I made that list because I usually always did everything for everyone else.

I would cook for people. You had a family emergency, I was there for you, would get up in the middle of the night, stop whatever I’m doing to be there.

It helps with the swelling.

I was doing everything for everyone else, putting them before me and thinking oh I’ve got plenty of time so I’ll get to that later.

I was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2010.

I said in my heart I knew.

I chose to have a complete mastectomy.

People called me, not how are you doing. Oh can you do this for me? Will you be there? And I’m saying, oh my goodness. I’m laying in the bed and I’m dying and you want me to still to continue to do things for you?

That’s why I say thank you cancer. Thank you cancer, for opening my eyes, for letting me see how people would use you.

So I said ok, now it was time to be, what I call, selfish, that I come first. If you happen to want to do what I’m doing then come along. Other than that I’m coming first now.

That’s how I got started with the flash mobbing.

I love dance and that zaniness is there anyway with me.
When you’re flash mobbing you feel like everyone else is looking at you even though there’s like a hundred other people, the spotlight is on you. So that’s your stage, your platform right there.

The adrenaline, the happy genes, the endorphins that it gives you and just to make someone else smile, it gives me pleasure.

This is the new me. I’m not changing for anyone. This is me living for myself now. Yes.

I met Sharon Harris on a day when she was rehearsing for not one but two upcoming flash mobs. Although she is now in remission, Harris still experiences physical side affects from her bout with cancer. Her joints are often swollen and stiff because she had several lymph nodes removed. However, she does not let this slow her down.

In addition to performing in flash mobs, Harris maintains a list of new activities she wants to try. Some of her list items are dangerous, such as sky diving and hot air ballooning. Others are more mundane, like taking a trip to Las Vegas. While she builds the strength and the funds to take on some of these challenges, Harris makes sure to keep her spirit of adventure alive but trying new things that are closer to home.

Last year she completed the Polar Bear Plunge at Orchard Beach in the Bronx. She also regularly participates in events organized by groups like Improv Everywhere, including a pants-less subway ride and a giant pillow fight.

Harris’s thirst of adventure and enthusiasm for life is infectious. She’s inspired me to go out and try flash mobbing. Although I think it will be a one-time thing for me, I’m excited to experience what Harris describes as “a feeling of joy that just goes right through you like, YES!”