Partial Glimpses: An Assessment of Jonathan Harris Sites by Maggie Schlundt

Jonathan Harris is a brilliant and inspirational man. Here I assess two of his storytelling forums, 'We Feel Fine' and 'Whale Hunt':

In his fascinating and inspirational TED talk, Jonathan Harris revealed his process of collecting stories and the brilliant ideas that combine technological capacity with storytelling to present to the world a polished form of captivating ‘partial glimpses’ (to borrow his charming and appropriate term) into others’ lives. In his lecture, he inspires us to see the stories in those surrounding us, to see the story in everything and to create something from what you see. His extensive journaling was enough for me to question my lack of documentation of my own life, his constant search for the glimpses, and his passion that lead him beyond that, into the beautiful realm of the full view, opened my eyes to the girth of exciting possibilities present on every inch of this earth.

Jonathan Harris’s websites clearly utilize his Computer Science skill set in specific and ingenious manners. ‘We Feel Fine’ is visually interesting even without the ‘feeling’ sentences. Knowing that each falling or twirling dot or rectangle is connected to a person, a real person, contributes greatly to the brilliance and beauty of the website. It is magical. People are constantly searching for others to relate to, others who feel the same way they’re feeling. This site, in all its accommodating features, comforts these searchers not only by showing them that there are people out there worse off than them, but by showing, simply, people. It reminds us to reject our self-centered natures and look at the bigger picture. The different viewing options take the website’s loveliness to another level. Now you can analyze the general state of the world’s feelings and the weather. After spending some time in awe of this amazing website, I showed it to all people physically close to me, demanding that they check it out, that they discover for themselves how our neighbors in China and South Africa and Italy and Canada and New York and Wisconsin are feeling. ‘wefeelfine.org’ has the rare but essential ability to bring people together in a smaller venue and less aggressive way than facebook, etc. It subtlety encourages connections and its message is contagious- I now not only want to be close to people, I feel the need to talk to them, to find out about them- if only on a fleeting surface level as this site does. Good work, Jonathan Harris.

‘Whale Hunt’ (Jonathan Harris’ other site) allows the viewer to control the viewing experience and to discover the story of a whale hunt at their own pace. This is smart and effective, especially when the images are paired with symbols that inform the intensity of the moment.

I hope that Mr. Harris continues to create sites that are so socially entrepreneurial. They are necessary. I hope to someday be as gifted and creative in my storytelling. He has shown me there are no limits, there is no set structure. There are only words, there is only truth.