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On a weather-perfect Friday afternoon on State Street in Ann Arbor,  passerbys stop on the sidewalk in front of a coffee shop to read a collection of hand written, anonymous writings from people about their life experiences.  One is about cheating on a lover. Another is about being a bully.  Some people stop to write something and contribute to the collection. 

"My hair is pink and I am fine," one essay says. "I"m still in love with my ex and I am fine. I just found out my attention deficit disorder is worse than 99.97% of the general population, which means I'm not rude, I just literally can't listen to you for more than 5 minutes and I'm fine."

It's called the "Strangers Project," and it's the creation of a 30-year-old named Brandon Doman, a Michigan native, who now lives in New York, who is currently on a "cross-country story tour" of more than 25 cities, setting up these makeshift galleries in public spaces. The impromptu essays are posted on thin strands of rope with wooden clothes pins.  Some of the writings end up on his website, Strangers Project, and on Facebook and Instagram.

On Friday, the writings, which are part of a collection of about 25,000 from around the country, were on display on the street for several hours before Doman packed up for another city.  

Doman started the project in 2009, and now does it full time, making money from speaking engagements, donations and a book of the writings he published last year titled "What's Your Story?" He hopes to publish another similar book.  

His crowdfunding page talks about his cross-country tour and says:

Up until now, the Strangers Project has mostly lived in parks or galleries in New York City. Our goal is to bring the project to new communities and strangers all across the country.

Meanwhile, a film crew with producer and director Taylor Nagel has been following him around in recent weeks for a documentary on the project.

Doman says it's cathartic for strangers to write whatever it is on their minds.  It's almost like a variation of going to confession. It also gives people insight into humanity.

Deadline Detroit's Allan Lengel spoke to Doman on Friday in Ann Arbor about his project in the video above.