While Tom admitted he still gets nervous approaching people and has days where he is more anxious than others, he said he always felt better afterwards.
“Before I started doing this I struggled with crowded spaces, I was having panic attacks, having to leave places early because I couldn’t handle it anymore,” he said.
“Through doing this what I have managed to do is develop my own understanding of my own anxiety and that’s helped me to be able to manage it better.”
Walking through Queen Street on one of the first sunny days of spring, it soon became clear Tom had become a familiar face, with three out of five of the people we approached recognising his work.
One even rejected Tom at first, reaching out their hand with a “no thank you” before realising who he was.
“The reason why there is so much stigma around different people these days is that we don’t interact with each other. We don’t stop and talk to people we walk past in the street,” said Tom.
As each person removed their headphones, so did any social masking. As an onlooker I felt the infectious positive energy that came with passing on a compliment.