On the wish site, the user types a wish into an online submission box that sends it directly to my personal email.

As soon as I see it, I immediately close my eyes and make that same wish.

The user’s IP address is automatically included in the email that the server sends me. Though I didn’t intend for this feature when I built the site, I’m super grateful for it. Because I have discovered that:

I add each city/state/country to a growing list of locations.

On principle, I never look into the specific coordinates of the IP addresses. The identity of each user is meant to remain completely anonymous.
The “wish” aspect of the project carries a lot of connotations. I would like to clarify that I have never been interested in trying to be any sort of genie or magician. I don’t believe that I “make” wishes “come true.” A wish is already true. A wish is an ask. Mostly everybody knows what it’s like to ask.  

I am interested in wishing because it seems to be a universal experience. Through which I can understand how attention and intention can get stretched across space and time, and how an experience of togetherness can get created within separation, privacy, and secrecy:

Having this project active and available to the world has been a great gift to me.

In synchronistic moments, I receive a wish that articulates exactly what I’m experiencing at that exact moment. Words coming from somebody else but feel straight from my own head or my own heart! It is amazing.  

Other times, I see a wish come in on my phone when I’m in the middle of something else: I might be busy or overwhelmed. Reading it creates the outcome where I stop thinking about myself, even if only briefly. Life feels wider.

I’ve learned a lot from creating this and I keep learning. I try my best to articulate what I learn, as I’ve done here. But there is always some thing about this project I can’t put into words. I like that about it too.

Thank you for participating.