My name is <mark style="background: #FF5582A6;">Stranger</mark>. "That One Stranger" started as a personal project to help me document my introspection efforts. My goal was to get to know myself better as I explored various topics and documented my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. During this introspection process, I came across a concept I couldn't stop thinking about: > "The person who you think of as yourself, exists only for you; and even you don’t really know who that is. > > Every person you met, have a relationship with, or make eye contact with on the street creates a version of you in their head. You’re not the same person to your mom, your dad, your siblings that you are to your coworkers, your friends, or your neighbors. > > There are a thousand different versions of yourself out there in other people's minds. A you exists in each version and yet your 'you' yourself doesn’t really exist at all." ## Considering "Who Am I?" When I heard this for the first time something clicked inside of me and it brought up a lot of different feelings. The idea of not really knowing who I am is what started this personal project, so the idea that the version of myself I think of not really existing resonated with me. I thought I knew myself pretty well, yet at the same time I am constantly learning new things about myself. It helped me to look deeper and along the way I've realized there are things I've been hiding from even myself. Avoidance at it's finest, I suppose. ## How Do People See Me? However, the feeling that hit me the hardest was recognizing that even those people closest to me don't really know who I am. I began contemplating the thousands of versions of me out there in the minds of people who've come to learn about my existence one way or another. I've never been one to care too much about the opinions others have about me. But this reflection began to bring things to mind that people don't know about me. From the secrets I keep to the thoughts & feelings I hold back to avoid conflict. And at one point I found myself wanting to be more authentic in my relationships. Recognizing this personal project could help me achieve that, I decided to publish it online. That way I could invite others to get to know me better as I get to know myself. So you can think of it as a primary resource for the version of myself that I see. ## Where To Go From Here? Where you go from here is up to you. But before you start, I figure I should explain the format of this website. I created this website using [Obsidian Publish](https://obsidian.md/publish). Obsidian is a privacy focused writing app built around bi-directional links. In short, think of it like a personal wikipedia. You can use the navigation to get started. That's where you'll find the core notes I've created. However, most of the notes are not listed in the navigation. The rest can be found interlinked throughout the notes. The more you click, the deeper you'll go. Think of it like a choose your own adventure. ### Some Recommendations... If you're attending [[Interfusion 2025]], then that's another note worth checking out. Otherwise, [[Start Here]] (consider this note the "Table of Contents"). If you're curious who I actually am in the real world, then I should probably address the elephant in the room...I'll be remaining anonymous in this project. Check out the [[Anonymity & Privacy]] note for my reasoning. If you want to try and understand my intentions, then read about the [[Purpose Of This Project]]. If you want to get to know me a little better, I would recommend [[Hobbies & Interests]] or [[Relationships & Community]]. Beyond that, I plan on answering [[Frequently Asked Questions]]. But so far I haven't done added too many.