Minneapolis , Minnesota ( CNN ) -- Ten minutes ago a woman called me and told me she was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer . As I 'm standing in the garage , writing her story onto the huge canvas with the others , the only audible sound was my sharpie scraping against the paper , but her voice never stopped spinning in my mind . Telling a story is like an invitation for others to share their stories with you . That 's what I discovered at TED when I shared my story about a limitation that held me back from my dream . After delivering my talk , I found myself constantly being stopped by people eager to share their stories , as hearing mine made them reflect on their own struggles , triumphs , hopes and fears . This sharing experience stuck with me , and now two months later , I 'm in the midst of receiving thousands of stories through my current art project . I had the idea to crowdsource stories about facing limitations . These stories are written onto the canvas , and collectively they create my current art piece . What started out as connecting with people through a work of art quickly turned into a documentation of our modern culture . If we either rewind or fast forward 1000 years , many of these stories would still be relatable . No matter how individualized our stories are , and no matter how much times have changed , we share the same core human experiences in faith , self-identity , health , addiction , love , loss , etc . TED.com : How I became 100 artists . Here are two stories that have been shared : . `` On paper , I have the perfect life . I 'm married to a man who loves me more than I deserve , beautiful , healthy children , and a great career . But I 'm in love with someone else that I ca n't be with and it impairs me every day . '' `` I was 14 and my mom and I were in a really bad place . We had just gone through a messy divorce from an abusive marriage . She had also been diagnosed with breast and skin cancer and we were very worried about how we would pay for the medical costs without her job . Our faith was slipping . We were standing in line at a pharmacy , we both had pneumonia . This really nice elderly women was in line behind us and my mom let her go in front of us and the woman introduced herself , and put her hands over us and started praying , right in the middle of the Pharmacy . My mom got a check from the insurance company a few weeks later . A few months after that she was hired at a new job . She is currently in her 8th year of breast cancer remission and her 3rd year of skin cancer remission . My faith has been renewed and we could not be in a better place . My mother is my hero . '' TED.com : The painter and the pendulum . There are also many stories that encapsulate our society and culture at this very moment -- from the first openly gay couple being able to adopt in Florida , to the innumerable amount of people struggling with obesity , to the increasing number of parents raising autistic children . What stands out to me the most is that given the opportunity for anonymity in this project , many people are brutally honest about how lonely they truly are in their experiences , thinking no one could possibly know what they 're going through . TED.com : Arthur Ganson 's moving sculpture . Within this wired culture , we 've become edited versions of ourselves . We may tweet , `` Just got a Pepsi , new bottle design . Sweet ! '' but we do n't say , `` I 'm sad and alone . I had no one to talk to so I went to the store to chat with the clerk while buying a Pepsi . '' I ca n't help but wonder , what 's the cost of becoming our `` edited '' selves instead of our authentic selves ? We should n't share just gumdrops and butterflies , because the hearty and rocky parts are what help us find our authentic selves . This slice of life , our lives , that are being captured in this piece are still ongoing and developing . What will continue to come out of it ? I do n't know , but I wait with fascination and a tired writing hand . What 's your story ? Share it and be part of art at philinthecircle.com . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Phil Hansen .
Phil Hansen gave a TED Talk describing how a shake led him to different forms of art . Comment: Hansen : A project that began with goal of connecting people is also a portrait of our cultue .