As Londoners we live life in the fast lane. We are fast paced consumers who get caught up in the thrill of the next trend simply because. If someone presented you with a piece of paper and on it was written, “Before I die…” what would you fill in the blanks with?
Taiwanese American artist Candy Chang unintentionally started up the Before I Die campaign. After the death of a loved one she struggled with the concept of death and her own grief. Though she eventually found some perspective it wasn’t enough, Candy wanted a daily visible reminder of what was important to her as well as other members of her community. After getting permission from local authorities she panted the side of an abandoned house with chalkboard paint and filled the space with the sentence, 80 times over, “before I die” leaving the blanks to be filled in by anyone who wanted to. The next day the wall was covered in peoples aspirations and dreams from wanting to see their children graduate to planting a tree.
Before and after of the first Before I Die wall.
She posted pictures of the wall online and the response was overwhelmingly positive, people wanted to do the same in their own towns and cities. So Candy set up a website with resources and what started out as a local experiment become a global campaign. Now over 400 Before I Die walls exist in over 60 countries and in 25 languages from Japan to Denmark. Candy has even published a book of some of these walls for everyone to see. Check out her website for more details. http://candychang.com/
The Before I Die project is a wonderful way for people to stop and think about what their deepest and most treasured goals are, to share them with the world to give hope to others and themselves. To remind themselves of what is meaningful in their lives. So, again, I ask if you had to fill in that blank what would you fill it with?