Jonathan Monsarrat Sets Guinness World Record with Community Art Project

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Jonathan Monsarrat Sets Guinness World Record
with Community Art Project
1888PressRelease - Jonathan Monsarrat sets a
Guinness World Record by providing handwritten
answers to more than 12,000 questions about
life. Boston, MA-NH - Jonathan Monsarrat began
the Wheel Questions art project in 2008 after a
friend told him that he gave good advice. Now he
has set a Guinness World Record by collecting
more than 12,000 handwritten questions about
life, answering nearly all of them by hand, and
posting them on his project website. Questions
include, for example, "How can I tell my mother I
forgive her, without using those words?" and "Am
I so damaged I will not heal?" Some are
uplifting, and some are distressing. Monsarrat
has received questions about suicide and
depression but also cartoons and anonymous
marriage offers. Jonathan Monsarrat said, "It's
just a record for quantity, not quality! But I
hope that I give good advice - at least, people
tell me so. There are a lot of troubled hearts
out there with questions they leave unanswered.
Sometimes all it takes is to write the question
down, to define what the problem is, and know
that at least one person cares enough to reply."
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Visitors have discovered the Wheel Questions
kiosk in Harvard Square and at outdoor festivals
from Boston to New York City. They take a colored
card, write a question, and put it in a dropbox.
Jonathan Monsarrat then collects the cards, turns
them over, and writes answers. Most of his
responses he wrote over just one summer,
answering as many questions as advice columnist
Dear Abby did in a lifetime. Of course, she put
more time into each answer, but Jonathan
Monsarrat insists that all questioners need is a
friendly reply, not a long letter in return.
Jonathan Monsarrat said, "My answers come from
two main philosophies first, to be proactive,
and second, to not let our emotions get the best
of us. Of course we shouldn't become uncaring
robots, but it's important to know that you are
not trapped by your emotions. You can use reason
to take apart your misconceptions and make
healthier choices." About Jonathan
Monsarrat Jonathan Monsarrat became an atheist in
high school just before going to MIT at the age
of 16, where he built robots including the first
mobile robot to be controlled over the Internet
in 1994. Wheel Questions is just the latest in a
lifelong history of community service. His most
notable project was being the founder and first
CEO of Turbine, the videogames company that makes
Lord of the Rings Online. These days, Jonathan
Monsarrat writes Events INSIDER, the most popular
events blog in New England. For more, see
http//soulburners.org/. http//www.jonathanmonsa
rratparty.com/