Thank You For Ending Homelessness: part 1

My pace may not be that of others...
yet, it is what gets me...
everywhere.

I'm still writing 50K words on homelessness this month in my personal challenge to myself during NaNoWriMo 2012.

Today, that set of words took another path. Or road. Or train of thought. … Or whatever word you like to use for a stunning turnaround.

Over the last 8 days, I've been asking myself, “what do I want my world to know about homelessness?”

One of the primary answers is, “I want people to know … no, not just to know … to KNOW! To feel, to believe, to realize, to be aware we are all a part of making homelessness an issue of the past -- to end homelessness.”

“Okay, self … how can I do that?”

Further on "How do you perceive Homelessness?"

Yes, moi on the Dun-Dun at my 5?th birthday party
Celebrate my upcoming 58th with me
by giving a smile to someone around you.

Be forewarned, this word count does not go toward my personal challenge to write 50,000 words on homelessness for NaNoWriMo 2012.  The words in this post, however, are extremely important, none-the-less to thoughts on homelessness and how you perceive yourself and others.  No matter what part of the road of homelessness you happen to be on, or off.

The words you are going to read have not been written by me.

Familiar with S. I. Hayakawa?  or read another of his bio's here.

His book. "Language in Thought and Action" (Hayakawa, S. I., and Alan R. Hayakawa. Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition. 5th ed. Harvest Original, 1991.) is where the excerpted words come from.

It's difficult to be a part of social media and not know, know of, or be acquainted with MAD MEN (The term "Madison Avenue" is often used metonymically for advertising, and Madison Avenue became identified with the American advertising industry after the explosive growth in this area in the 1920s.  -- cited from “Madison Avenue.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, November 5, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madison_Avenue&oldid=515450380.)

I'd like you to consider "The Story of A-Town and B-Ville:  A Semantic Parable" from the panorama of any social injustice you support, crusade against, advocate for those experiencing it.  For me, today, the vista I'm viewing it from is homelessness.  I find it particularly poignant, because as a person experiencing homelessness during the month of January 2011, I spent my nights in the local National Guard Armory on a cot with 199 other people sleeping out of the elements, as part of the then available "Winter Shelter."

Homelessness is more than simply being without shelter

What is homelessness?

It's been a couple of days since my last post. What is your answer to “what is homelessness?”

What do you feel, think, believe?

I feel, think, and believe that homelessness is much more than simply being without adequate shelter.

Let me tell you I was totally surprised to find on the web phrasing that is somewhat akin to the way I perceive homelessness. To give you a means of exploring what I think and feel, I'm linking to the article (go to the middle of the page and read “Another definition of homelessness – by people who experience it):

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/homelessnessservices/InformationKitForVolunteers/Module1/WhatIsHomelessness.asp

...that “knocked my socks off” (all puns intended when you think of socks and those experiencing street homelessness)

Source: flickr.com via Invisible People on Pinterest

When you were pondering about homelessness what images, scenes, types of people, scents, and reactions flowed through your mind?  

How do you get help if you are homeless - Part 1

This is Part 1
More Parts to locating help
will be forthcoming
If you are seeking help at this moment,
go here (NCH) to get started;
or to WAV here on Twitter
or WAV here on Facebook
NCH will point you to help
WAV will point you to community

What would you do if you knew you were going to be homeless on a certain date?

What would you do if you didn't know you were going to be homeless, and suddenly found yourself so, turning from one minute to the next?

Is it possible? You bet.

Who would you contact? What arrangements would you try to make? What would you take with you? Who would you tell? Who would you not tell? What would you think of yourself?

Today on the internet, there is much more information available to those who are experiencing homelessness.

This is a huge difference from 2010.

How To: Change A World

This post as with all my posts in November, 2012
is the direct output of a birthday challenge to myself
during NaNoWriMo 2012.
50,000 words on homelessness

The symptom I am choosing to focus on is homelessness – you can pick any social ill – they are all interrelated.

If you are not asking yourself the following questions – be you a person experiencing the symptom by:

being homeless;
being a service provider;
being curious;
being a change agent;
being an advocate; or
being a bystander –

if you are not asking yourself the following questions, you are not effecting as much change in transforming a world as you could.

If change or transformation is not your goal – stop reading here.