swap lives with someone for a day

I’ve sometimes fantasized about completely stepping into the life of another woman for a month or more—and I mean swapping everything: homes, friends, families, spouses/SOs, clothes(including undies and lingerie)and jewelry, makeup and toiletries, hairdos, cars, jobs, and names too.

I’m house sitting for the next two months. Today I met with the homeowners and received all the instructions for how to set the alarm and which plants need how much water when and the directions for how to turn on the TV and the AC and the fans … it was a lot of information! They’re not taking on my life, but I’m certainly taking on theirs.

For two weeks, my car was out of commission. The bus system is pretty dreadful here, so instead of taking twenty to thirty minutes to get to school, it took one to two hours. Instead of 10-15 minutes to work, it took 45-90 minutes. At the end of my very very long day, I had to walk a long way uphill to get home. Getting groceries was nearly impossible, so I wound up spending twice as much to buy foodstuffs at the corner market. This was all during my sleep-deprived finals and pre-finals weeks, so it was pretty hard for me. I worried about how I would pay for the car during all of this too. I had to let go of a lot of things during this time. I had to give up any dream of having a social life, because by the time I got home, it was time to go to bed.

The important part of all of this was that I realized that there are many many people in my area on SSI or working minimum wage jobs who do this every day. It’s not easy to scrape together 3-6 dollars round trip (in exact change) every time you go anywhere. People do this during the winter, when it’s cold and dark and pouring rain. Crossing busy roads and walking where there are no sidewalks would have been a lot worse in the dark and rain. I got to know my neighbors a little better by shopping at the corner store, but for people who are just barely getting by financially, shopping there would use up every cent they have. People get far less privacy this way, always sitting or standing on crowded buses, never being able to retreat to the private space of a private vehicle.

Some people who go through this every day are seventy years old with broken bones and arthritic joints. While I was changing places with them for two weeks, I hope they got to change places with me.

i can swap faces.

I don’t know how realistic this goal is. I’m not actively seeking anyone with whom to swap. This is more of a “wouldn’t it be cool to” than an actual “goal”.

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I had a neighbor who once suggested we swap lives for a day. I would go to his job and he to mine, we’d live in each other’s houses, hang out with each other’s friends. It sounded great! I immediately agreed to his offer, but then he immediately backed out. Damn spontaneous wanabes!

I love this idea though; so my mission is to locate someone willing to make such a swap with me. Perhaps this is a difficult chore. I have to find someone willing to participate, someone who has a life I’m interested in living for 24 hours, someone who I’m willing to allow to access to all the privacy of my routine.

I like this idea because it allows me to be an actress on a very unusual stage. I would try as much as possible to be the person who’s life I am living that day. Maybe I’d even wear my swap’s clothing. Senses would be heightened throughout the day, experiences intensified. Like an out of body experience, except an out of life experience instead.

I also like this idea because of what it asks of me in preparation. Imagine making a list of instructions for another individual to refer to in living your life for a day. Such consciousness of self required!