The GISHWHES Experience: 3 Reasons Why You Should Participate
Start writing a post
Entertainment

The GISHWHES Experience: 3 Reasons Why You Should Participate

The Greatest Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen... in a nutshell.

87
The GISHWHES Experience: 3 Reasons Why You Should Participate
GISHWHES.com

"We at gishwhes believes that 'normalcy' is overrated and that true 'living' can be found hidden under the rocks of community artistic creation, acts of artistic sublime public performances, and random acts of kindness. More importantly, we are all artists and have gifts for society no matter what our capabilities or talents. And most importantly, we at gishwhes want you to know the most important thing we’ve learned in the past four years: it is almost impossible to make durable clothing from cheese." – gishwhes.com

These are not small promises, but this international event – dubbed the ‘hunt’ – always delivers.

(And yes – your burning question answered – it’s true that dairy isn’t participate reliable fashion. I am speaking from personal experience. Don’t worry rookies… you’ll get there. I've got three years of "abnosome" under my belt.)


So what is “G.I.S.H.W.H.E.S.”?

Well, weird for starters.

In short, GISHWHES is an acronym for TheGreatest International Scavenger Hunt Ever Seen. It’s designed to encourage fantastic feats of creativity, kindness, intellectual accomplishment, and team collaboration. Each year, the winning team wins all-expense paid adventure abroad. The best part? It raises millions for charity every year. G.I.S.H.W.H.E.S is weird, fun, emotionally meaningful, and challenging – most say the experience is life changing.

If you are just beginning your research about it, the first things you might hear about it are the records the event has broken, the celebrities involved, the amazing charitable contributions, or the mere size and scale of it on a global level. What is covered slightly less is the deeply individualistic experience and how it intersects with community: ultimately, the source of this massive, disruptive, fantastic thing with a momentum that isn’t slowing down any time soon. "Life changing" is no small thing --- and if you read testimonials, or pick up any one of the books published about it (you'll see yours truly in 2016's edition), you'll note that it's a shockingly common declaration in this wonderful world of creative, generous mischief.

And why? I could write a thesis on that one, but it boils down to the intersection of "random acts of kindness", art in its purest form, the ability to create with aims of the very loud and very visible internationally, and most importantly: positive-impact social deviancy.

Let’s explain.

I hope a giving stranger buys your coffee tomorrow morning. I hope you find a $20 bill on your way to work, that you always feel loved exactly as you are, and that your journey through this planet is one of wonder and awe. Mostly, though, I hope you’re kind to waitresses and cashiers. I hope you avoid excuses by living so you won’t need them. I hope you pick up your hotel room upon checking out, that you’re polite to others on the subway, and you’re not inclined to chase down other drivers in the midst of a bad day. I hope that you capitalize on opportunities for both self-care and random acts of kindness, and that you walk through this world with self-awareness of your impact. Things can happen to you, but you can also make things happen.

This, in and of itself, isn’t a complicated idea: it’s taking ownership of the reality that you could be the difference between someone giving up on a dream, or restoring their faith in humanity. You could be the catalyst for a pay-it-forward chain that rocks someone’s world. You could leave a note that pulls someone out of a dark headspace, fill a stranger’s meter, or talk someone off a ledge just by being positive to those you casually encounter – even when you know you’re never going to see them again, because someone out there is destined to carry with them something you’ve forgotten.

You could do anything. If you could do anything, why not make it good?

Here’s the simple random-act philosophy: you intrinsically get something out of the experience of being a giver. More importantly, you take ownership of the fact that the only thing better than a nice surprise is the immeasurable good that is done in the world when you become the person who creates intentional, rippling impact.

A lifetime of putting good things out into the world is a silent form of leadership humanity desperately needs – and sometimes, you have to break a few norms to do it.

“Don’t pressure yourself. Don’t worry about what others think you should do or what the societal ‘norm’ is. Do what moves you and makes you smile and the “good” will follow.” — Misha Collins, actor, co-founder of Random Acts, host of GISHWHES

Too often people are limited by the idea that if they offer to do something nice for someone, they could be rejected. If they expressed themselves, they could be rejected. If they did something interesting that profoundly disrupted routine, they could be rejected.

We all have shells that we struggle to break out of, overly-limiting comfort zones that we might be better off without, anxieties that get in the way of audacity or even talking to strangers, and insecurities that lead us to hold back to the point of hiding.

D2N – or Death 2 Normalcy – shakes all that up. It’s essentially the mission statement of the entire event. Participants register. That’s it, but they’ve already donated to charity and put their name in the running for the next Guinness World Record for largest online scavenger hunt. It’s one step – not so scary right? Then, they are paired with people all over the world or joined with selected teammates to form an instant-community of 15 people. Once the hunt begins, with the entire online GISHWHES community buzzing and generating hype, participates are exposed to a long list of prompts: things that excite you, things that don’t interest you, things that get your mind rolling with ideas, things that make you sweat with nerves at the mere thought. There’s always things you just can’t do, things you don’t know if you’ll want to tackle or even get to, and then the cream of the crop: things you felt like you were born for, or practically dared to do. What items resonate in what ways with each person always differs, but the race is on all the same.

These prompts might ask you to include friends or family or coworkers or other “safe people” – folks you wouldn’t necessarily struggle to include in whatever shenanigans come next. These items might reveal a new side of you or someone you know, bring you closer to a loved one, or start a bonding experience with people you never realized you could connect with. Other items may ask for art projects that get you elbow-deep in crossing hot glue with a shower curtain, or cotton candy and a bathing suit. Some ask for interpretations of vague concepts, and others ask for bafflingly specific renderings of a long list of exact, detailed parameters.

At first, it’s all a list of recipes. A few days in, however, you’re thinking outside the box – everything in your life is a prop, or has a new function. Condiments become paint. Clutter becomes parts of a robot baby. Old, unusable games with missing pieces might lend parts to a sparkling fresh rube Goldberg machine. Feminine products become materials to build a dinosaur, or a dog. Even bystanders become your photographer as you pose on a busy street, and the friends that are available are fast-bonding collaborators who will surprise and amaze you. People you were randomly assigned with online become a think-tank and a support group, whether you need recipes for homemade face paint on the fly or just some tips on self-care when you passion-project’d yourself into two all-nighters in a row and have to call in to work because your rocking your world into the most satisfying cousin of burnout: well-earned creative bankruptcy.

The mid-hunt fatigue inevitably hits as the straightforward items are completed and more difficult, brain-wracking ones remain. The pure immediacy of the ticking clock leads to finishing strong, the home-stretch of prompts you hadn’t even considered before suddenly taking up your every waking thought. Just as the submission site closes, you’re hit with the full marathon-finish-line experience: exhaustion, joy, relief, and a little bit of instant sadness that it’s over. The grief at its end doesn’t last for long. When the hundreds of thousands of teams from around the world begin to splatter social media with their takes on the same exact projects you filled your week, you get to relive it all. Because you too were sworn to secrecy – prohibited from posting anything until the hunt ends – you get to enjoy the conversation pieces that now hallmark every Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram account of your team. It’s devastatingly satisfying.

It all happens so fast, you just might forget that you did things you never thought possible. You were too busy to think! A cheese suit in broad daylight? Getting your grandparents to start mudwrestling? Reconnecting with a biological parent? Doing a puppet show for a children’s hospital? Bringing pizza to a women’s shelter? A Goya painting recreated in gumballs, or an iconic photo rebuilt in junk food? A zombie at a fast food restaurant? A GoFundMe for a refugee family, a fake Twitter for Orlando Jones, a spreadsheet for Jared Padalecki, the art in math, the math in art? A Jensen Ackles portrait in skittles, a storm-trooper on a plane, a nun on a rope swing, the fan-illustrated Queen of England and Misha Collins in a torrid romance novel? When did you have time to worry that you were rewriting your comfort zone? You had an excuse! You were competing! You were riding the wave of a community that brings the world to its knees (or, at least, grounds planes with helium-balloon floating Christmas trees, or intimately disrupts the interstellar communications of NASA)!

You might have just changed someone’s life.

You might have just changed your life.

If you’re anything like me, you’re never going to look at the world the same way again. You won’t want to.

“I would say have fun and surprise yourself. I think that a lot of people go into it with a bit of trepidation, like, 'I don’t know if I’m going to be able to approach strangers on the street, or craft clothing out of food products,’ or whatever other weird things I have them do. So I hope that people really let themselves really get into it and surprise themselves with how much they actually can do and expand their horizons a little bit. So let go of your expectations of what it is that you think you can do and open yourself to the possibility that you can be much more.” - Misha Collins


Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

55684
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

35892
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

957895
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

186575
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments