Chronicling a World Connected Through Found Language

In Oakland, California, a wall is painted with the words “Trust Your Struggle.” In Guerrero, Mexico, “Perdon,” colorfully rendered, rises up above the sidewalk. Cars on the Major Deegan Expressway in the Bronx pass a “Gratitude” sign along the side of the road.

A social media campaign launched by the 92nd Street Y in New York, #WordsWeLiveIn asks people to notice the words and phrases that surround them—on billboards, on bathroom stalls, on street signs, on monuments. From anywhere in the world, people can take to Instagram to share snippets that speak to them. Some are quirky: one Instagrammer questions, upon seeing a mailbox in Gambier, Ohio labeled “Keep,” whether it’s a dorm name or a verb; others, like a sidewalk snapshot of a scrawled “believe in yourself” at the corner of 18th and Castro in San Francisco, are more poignant.