photo (5) Take a stand! Pedestrian cross walk in Mar Mikhail

If you happen to be passing by Mar Mikhail and notice a blue pedestrian stand or a yellow taxi stand, these are part of the #OnlyTheLonely project that was launched by Volvo with the eventual collaboration of the awesome LiveLoveBeirut team. Only the Lonely Project is basically a social experiment to discover how certain actions and behaviors could change by installing booths on certain streets in Lebanon.

The aim is to let the Lebanese people think for themselves and not follow the rest of the crowd. If you are used to parking your car on the pedestrian crosswalk or stand, stop doing so and take a step in the right direction. If you are used to giving your car to the reckless valet parking companies, take some time to find the nearest parking lot and walk to your destination. If you are used to crossing red lights, stop doing so even if the assholes behind you start honking at you. There are so many baby steps that our society can take to improve the way things are and become conscious of everything happening around us.

[YouTube]

I don’t think I need to elaborate further on the initiative itself, as the ads are brilliantly made and speak for themselves, but what’s great about this experiment is that it encourages people to take part in it through the various social media channels and not just relay a message to the crowds. Mr. Lonely is after all the face of the real minority in this country, the ones that stand in line, respect the traffic lights, and don’t go the wrong way and that’s why this minority needs to step out and be an example for others to follow.

How can you participate in this experiment?

There are several interactive stands around the city of Beirut that you can see on the map below. All you need to do is actually use them whenever you are near, and share your experience by using the hashtah #onlythelonely on Twitter and Instagram. By doing so, you would be adding your voice to thousands of other Lebanese and helping Live Love Beirut share a petition with the government to request the necessary tools for this new direction.

More importantly though, you would be setting an example for everyone around you and encouraging them to take the right road and stop following what others are doing. So go to the nearest stand, get involved in the experiment and share it for all of us to see it! I will be gladly sharing all the videos and pictures I get from the blog readers.

map Map is on the website [Here]

You can read more about the project [Here] and see the lonely moments shared by some people.

[YouTube]