Un-homed But Not Unhinged: Best Friends Forever… or For a While

By /
Reading time: 3 minutes.

When times are toughest we do find out where our friends truly are. I count myself lucky to have some angelic friends emerge during this time of being un-homed. It’s not as if I’ve needed a huge amount of support but the connectivity is there and that is what matters.

When you help friends out you generally hope that there will be some possibility of reciprocation when you need some assistance yourself. Looking back I can sadly say that not all within a close circle of friends were able, or willing, to step up.

Not that I had big needs at any given time. But it is telling when someone fairly new to me offers some ironing assistance for my nicer shirts and someone I’ve known for a long, long time doesn’t respond to a direct plea. It’s more than a little troubling.

It’s hard enough to hit a truly low point in life that is part circumstance and part decision-making without having to anticipate what you can rely on for support. Or who you can rely on. But then it’s also pretty hard to ask for help when you’ve been somewhat self-sufficient.

It’s probably an ego thing, but when you look over that list of who to turn to you can’t help but be uncomfortable. Worse is when you find yourself cringing at the thought of asking certain people.

But then again the broad sweep of all these changing life circumstances while being un-homed has been lessons in acceptance. Forgiveness can come along at some point I hope, but for the moment I’m a bit more focused on being accepting and forgiving of myself. That’s more than enough right now.

Previous posts in this series:

Support Independent, Unbiased News

Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in Ჹɲʻ. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.

 

About the Author

  • Joe Bright
    Joe Bright
    Joe Bright is a graduate of Iolani School and went on to study art at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, and later Chinese medicine at The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco. Joe currently runs a small acupuncture clinic, Kama’aina Acupuncture in Kapahulu as the first dedicated low-cost “community acupuncture” clinic in Honolulu. Joe has a varied background that has included working as a bicycle mechanic, freelance artist, teaching calligraphy and Tai Chi, a nanny, and even a CEO of a small entrepreneurial company. He continues to create art, even having work recently appear at the Honolulu Academy of Arts as well the Bishop Museum. He also continues with entrepreneurial projects when possible and serves on the Board of Directors for a local Buddhist meditation organization, Vipassana Hawai’i.
    Use the RSS feed to subscribe to Joe Bright's posts today