I was thinking about being a part time homeless person on weekends so I can learn humility. Kind of like those Hindu holy men. Except, instead of a few years, I will just do it occasionally on weekends. Anyone try this or anything like this before? I want to see the world through another set of lens and learn something new and discover myself deeper ...
Learning humility ...
- Thread starter DateMasamune
- Start date
I dont think you could pose a homeless person on occassion to feel what they feel when you know in the back of your head you can go home at any moment or get out of it...whereas they dont have that option. That's what I think, but who am I to hold the answers?
That is so true. But how else can I experience such sensation? I have thought about being a monk for a year or two, but I am not at that level yet where I can detach myself from my family, friends and material goods ... another words, I am not good enough!
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Like I said, I ain't good enough yet to give away my material possesions and abandon my interpersonal relationships. But when the time comes, I might make it into a trust account and then have a non-profit organization have power of attorney over it.ackack said:Or empty out your bank account, give the money to me, and sit on the sidewalk. [/B]
Just reading about it won't do anything for me. It must be experienced personally. But thank you.
Toss all your cards into a saftey deposit box. Give the key, but not the location to a close friend. Go with $20.00 dollars. Jump a Freight...ride the unit (engine)...at all costs DO NOT go through Detroit...head west...write us.
Yes, you are correct. But I think that if I were to ever experience something like this, it would allow me to enjoy another level of existence. Something which can not be told about in words. It must be experienced.Asterix said:DateMasamune,
I don't think you could ever fully appreciate what that life would be like, unless you were living it by necessity. Anything else simply makes you an observer.
I once thought long and hard about becoming a monk for a few years but the idea never fell through. I am not good enough to abandon all and detach myself from all including myself.
Join the Coast Guard. Spend 6 years putting your life on the line to save others.
Commit to working at a mission for a few years, spend some time seeing how one person can make a difference.
go to work in a Charity Senior Citizens home. Find out what it means to be abandoned by family.
But pretending to be homeless and having the knowledge you are not is no anwser to humility. In that to be humble is to think great of others than yourself. And your knowing you have a choice means you never become less than those you emulate.
Commit to working at a mission for a few years, spend some time seeing how one person can make a difference.
go to work in a Charity Senior Citizens home. Find out what it means to be abandoned by family.
But pretending to be homeless and having the knowledge you are not is no anwser to humility. In that to be humble is to think great of others than yourself. And your knowing you have a choice means you never become less than those you emulate.
The word "emulate" here is perhaps the most enlightening word I have been looking for. You hit the nail right on the head. I will only be an emulator, a wannabe at the very best, because like you said, I have a choice whereas these homeless people really don't have a choice.papasmerf said:And your knowing you have a choice means you never become less than those you emulate.
However, being a part time homeless person would not only give me a peek, a tinted and fuzzy peek at best, but it will also allow me the opportunity to see how people see me. It will allow me to see passerbyers in return and see how many people will drop some change in my tin box ...
I can not fully describe my true desire or intentins of wanting to do this, or detach myself from everything, but I do have a desire to abandon our concrete jungle and go to a bamboo jungle instead.
Many would equate "success" with monetary/capital accumulation, but beg to differ ...
It's been done before...
A couple years back there was a Globe reporter who left all his cards and money etc at home and went homeless for a week. He then wrote an article everyday what it was like. He slept at City Hall (outside) and went around to all the free food places and panhandled all day. He reported that some days he made more money panhandling then his job paid him. He experienced different things from scary to making new friends etc. I wish I could remember his name or the name of the article. Maybe someone can find it on The Globe & Mail website.
As far as being homeless... I am not sure it will make one feel more humble. I have been homeless myself many years ago. I think I felt more anger then anything else. There are a lot of hopless feelings also. How can you get a job and get out of this situation when you have no address or phone? I was beggining to wonder if I would ever escape this terrible situation and almost give up on trying. Some good luck found me staying at a friends place and he got me a job as a cook's helper for min wage. This was many years ago. Today it's a bit different. At community centres around the city homless people can get voice mail for $10./3 months. They let you use their address on job aps and resumes. There is a lot more help then there was back in the 70's. It's almost for some a fad to be homless. When I came back to Toronro from Ottawa back in '96 I was not completly homeless but pretty close. I found though there was lots of help for those that want to take advantage of. I found so many places for free food I gained wieght. It's also a lot more dangerous now though. Lot's of people in the street (most) live by the street code and what I call jail house mentality. You don't want to mess with them. And you for sure don't want to tell them that you are in fact not homeless and have a home. They will ask you where and show up at your door. I don't think any of this will help you to feel humble.
A couple years back there was a Globe reporter who left all his cards and money etc at home and went homeless for a week. He then wrote an article everyday what it was like. He slept at City Hall (outside) and went around to all the free food places and panhandled all day. He reported that some days he made more money panhandling then his job paid him. He experienced different things from scary to making new friends etc. I wish I could remember his name or the name of the article. Maybe someone can find it on The Globe & Mail website.
As far as being homeless... I am not sure it will make one feel more humble. I have been homeless myself many years ago. I think I felt more anger then anything else. There are a lot of hopless feelings also. How can you get a job and get out of this situation when you have no address or phone? I was beggining to wonder if I would ever escape this terrible situation and almost give up on trying. Some good luck found me staying at a friends place and he got me a job as a cook's helper for min wage. This was many years ago. Today it's a bit different. At community centres around the city homless people can get voice mail for $10./3 months. They let you use their address on job aps and resumes. There is a lot more help then there was back in the 70's. It's almost for some a fad to be homless. When I came back to Toronro from Ottawa back in '96 I was not completly homeless but pretty close. I found though there was lots of help for those that want to take advantage of. I found so many places for free food I gained wieght. It's also a lot more dangerous now though. Lot's of people in the street (most) live by the street code and what I call jail house mentality. You don't want to mess with them. And you for sure don't want to tell them that you are in fact not homeless and have a home. They will ask you where and show up at your door. I don't think any of this will help you to feel humble.
I think it's true that there are some homeless that got there by no fault or choice of their own. And they would like to get a job and a home etc. I.E. They would rather not be there. There are however a lot of homeless people who do choose to be. Like I said in my post above. It's almost a fad.DateMasamune said:The word "emulate" here is perhaps the most enlightening word I have been looking for. You hit the nail right on the head. I will only be an emulator, a wannabe at the very best, because like you said, I have a choice whereas these homeless people really don't have a choice.
Re: It's been done before...
jwm
It was John Stackhouse.TheNiteHwk said:A couple years back there was a Globe reporter who left all his cards and money etc at home and went homeless for a week. He then wrote an article everyday what it was like. He slept at City Hall (outside) and went around to all the free food places and panhandled all day. He reported that some days he made more money panhandling then his job paid him. He experienced different things from scary to making new friends etc. I wish I could remember his name or the name of the article. Maybe someone can find it on The Globe & Mail website.
As far as being homeless... I am not sure it will make one feel more humble. I have been homeless myself many years ago. I think I felt more anger then anything else. There are a lot of hopless feelings also. How can you get a job and get out of this situation when you have no address or phone? I was beggining to wonder if I would ever escape this terrible situation and almost give up on trying. Some good luck found me staying at a friends place and he got me a job as a cook's helper for min wage. This was many years ago. Today it's a bit different. At community centres around the city homless people can get voice mail for $10./3 months. They let you use their address on job aps and resumes. There is a lot more help then there was back in the 70's. It's almost for some a fad to be homless. When I came back to Toronro from Ottawa back in '96 I was not completly homeless but pretty close. I found though there was lots of help for those that want to take advantage of. I found so many places for free food I gained wieght. It's also a lot more dangerous now though. Lot's of people in the street (most) live by the street code and what I call jail house mentality. You don't want to mess with them. And you for sure don't want to tell them that you are in fact not homeless and have a home. They will ask you where and show up at your door. I don't think any of this will help you to feel humble.
jwm
TheNiteHwk said:I think it's true that there are some homeless that got there by no fault or choice of their own. And they would like to get a job and a home etc. I.E. They would rather not be there. There are however a lot of homeless people who do choose to be. Like I said in my post above. It's almost a fad.
Sometimes I think those of us who have a nice home and all the food we can eat don't really appreciate what we have.
It's not that I don't appreciate what I have, it's just many things have become meaningless to me. Even coming to this board, gathering info on who to see next. It's really nothing but meaningless sex ...booboobear said:Sometimes I think those of us who have a nice home and all the food we can eat don't really appreciate what we have.
I just want to discover myself through a channel which I have not experienced before. And pehaps, being a part time homeless person is one of those many paths to find meaning.
I do not know why, but it seems like it is hard to find meaning in many things. Another thing is, loneliness is also another issue. And when I say loneliness, I do not mean being alone all the time and have no friends. What I mean is alienation from many things which have no meaning.
How does this relate to my some what desire to be a part time homeless person? To learn something new and to see the world differently and to see how those walker-byers see me ... instead of a suite and tie, people will see me in rags. And then, perhaps I will see who my real friends are ...
Like Eric Clapton once sang "no one knows me when I am down and out" ... but is it true?
Nobody knows you
When you're down and out
In your pocket, not one penny
And, as for friends, well
You just haven't any...
When you're down and out
In your pocket, not one penny
And, as for friends, well
You just haven't any...
DateMasamune said:
Many would equate "success" with monetary/capital accumulation, but beg to differ ...
Sucess is best measured by the way we are remenbered by those whose lives we have touched. A man may not ever know his sucesses but those he has touched will.
