Okay, picture this: You’re on a Southwest flight and the usual routine is happening. You get settled, check your seatbelt, maybe chat with the person next to you. But on some flights, something extra happens: something you didn’t expect at 30,000 feet.
Meet John McCay, a flight attendant with Southwest who’s got a unique way of connecting people during their flights. He carries around a journal but it’s not just any journal. This one gets passed from passenger to passenger and it’s filled with poems, drawings, prayers, love advice and sometimes, deeply personal stories. It’s like a little traveling confessional, a space for strangers to share things they might not otherwise say out loud.
NBC News recently did a story about McCay’s journal project (video embedded above), and it’s one of those feel-good stories that just makes you believe in the power of human connection. McCay says the journal started as a way for passengers to connect, no matter the reason they’re flying. “You don’t always have time to figure out why people are traveling,” McCay told the the reporter, “but I thought this could be a way to tune into that.”
But the journal really started to show its power after the fires in Maui in 2023. McCay was flying out of the island and, as soon as he handed the journal over, a passenger grabbed it and passed it along the whole plane. What followed was a flood of emotions with people sharing stories of grief, loss and healing. One passenger wrote about losing their son and how grief left them unable to get out of bed for months. But in the end, they wrote, “Through it all, never give up.”
Isn’t it wild how something as simple as a journal can bring people together in such an emotional way? But McCay isn’t surprised. “Connection is the most important thing for humans,” he said, and I have to agree. There’s something about being in the air, far from home, disconnected from everyday life, that makes you open up in ways you wouldn’t expect. Maybe it’s the vulnerability or maybe it’s just the fact that, in that moment, everyone’s kind of on the same ride together.
The journal has also sparked some pretty cool connections between strangers. Like the time Eliza, flying from Dallas to Houston, grabbed it and shared her own story of loss. When asked why she was so willing to share, she said, “You get to a certain age and you only want to help. I love hearing other people’s experiences too.”
Honestly, this journal project is a perfect example of how something so small can make a big impact. It’s not about filling time during a flight, it’s about making those moments count, sharing pieces of ourselves and finding common ground with people you’ll probably never see again. So, if you find yourself on a Southwest flight and notice a flight attendant with a journal, don’t be shy, take a moment, add your own story and maybe you’ll be part of the next chapter in this amazing project.
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