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Since becoming un-homed there have been many moments when I have to remind myself why this has come about. As mentioned there are several things that come together in just the wrong way that propel someone into this life. Naturally there may be certain factors that strongly precipitate homeless status more than others, such as drug addiction and mental health issues.
But for many of us, it’s just that combo of moderate to severe disaster combined with a cascade of things going wrong.

Choices and best guesses get made and there you have it: you’re un-homed. Add in one functional soccer-mom van, one empty bank account, a hefty dose of uncertainty, and you have a rhythm that now includes parks, public showers, and lots of Safeway food.

But these are all things I’ve written about, so nothing too new there. But that’s kind of the point here: this is not a glamorous life going on here. It is monotonous. It is tedious at times. It doesn’t exactly make anyone feel good; At least not me, even though I’m pretty accepting of things.

Many of us out here seem to have lost out to the system of paying taxes and working to build our versions of the American dream. You know the one: It’s that dream of owning your own home, having a family, and relying on some guaranteed retirement package that allows cruises and trips to Vegas while maintaining health insurance coverage just in case something bad happens.

When you lose to the system it doesn’t always feel so simple to buy back into that same system. But what does the general population do? It expects us to do just that and trust them in the process. However, remember that I contend that deep down many homeless are heart-broken. So to ask, or expect, some homeless person to simply “get back to work” within the system is kind of like telling them to go back to the person who broke their heart. It’s rubbing salt in a wound and why would anyone do that? Something doesn’t add up.

Of course there are many types of homeless and un-homed. The reasons widely vary, as do the efforts to shift or improve things, so there’s no point in recounting the variations at the moment. I meet people who do the best they can with their circumstances, while others seem lost. Some are not too bright, while others seem perfectly normal and capable. But so far the common thread is that I have yet to meet someone who planned on being un-homed or homeless.

Maybe someone is out there who had grand designs to live a life of drifting about and eating out of garbage cans, but I’m not holding my breath. In the meantime it’s business as usual.

Previous posts in this series:

• Under The Magnifying Glass
• Laundry Day
• Welcome Back
• My Life as a Pigeon
• Beginnings
• On the Road — But Not in Hawaii
• Cash Flow
• How Do You Spot An “Un-homed?”
• Nap Time On The Road
• A Funny Thing Happened…
• A Governor’s Decision
• Trying to Stay Clean
• Pity or Compassion
• Best Friends Forever… or For a While
• Going with the Flow
• Milestones
• Anger Paralysis
• Timing Is Everything
• It’s All Relative
• Riding Heartbreak
• The Courage Needed
• Bartering Along
• Getting Swept Away… Almost
• Neglect
• Small Measures of Success
• The Interior Life
• I Miss My Bed
• My Closet Has a Flat Tire
• Hopes and Dreams
• Homeless Are People, Too
• Full Monty or Not?
• Back Seat Office
• Staying Connected
• Those Small Indignities
• Putting Your Life in Storage
• One Step Forward, One Step Back
• Exciting New Career Opportunities
• End of the Day
• Solutions Wanted
• When to Hold On, Let Go?
• Location, location, location
• Range of Motion
• Food More Than Sustenance
• Figuring It All Out Someday
• Solitude
• The Good, The Bad
• From The Heart
• Does Anyone Really See Me?
• Keeping Perspective
• Showers at the Natatorium
• Achieving Homelessness