CURRENT MISSION

FORMULATING STRATEGY TO RULE THE WORLD ALA PINKY AND THE BRAIN

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I DON'T - YET!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

NONE TO DATE,HOWEVER HAVE ABUSED MANY FRIEND'S AND STRANGERS HOSPITALITY AND COUCHES/FLOORS OVER THE YEARS.

Interests

• drinking
• shopping
• clothing
• swimming

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Was homeless for a couple of months last year - incredible experience but not recommended, especially in winter. This way of life does have a certain appeal and it is easy to see why it can become a terminal way of life. For many of the people who lose their homes and hit the streets it is very easy to take the line of least resistance and give up hope, especially if they are using substances to cope. Fortunately for me I didn't drink or do drugs while I was homeless. But what really kept me going was that I still had a job to go to everyday. This was actually the most challenging part of the whole experience. If you dont have the conveniences of a safe place to sleep, a base to keep (what little possesions you have), you don't have a toilet, shower and means to wash your clothes and you don't have transport it becomes something of a nightmare getting ready for and going to work everyday. Not to mention the stress of worring about your boss and co-workers discovering your secret life. But I'm too proud to beg so losing my job was not an option. Having to shower and clean your clothes in places like public swimming pools and shopping mall toilets can be taxing at the best of times and it becomines quite demeaning when the caretakers and regulars at these places start to cotton on to what you are up to. Still you do learn not take yourself so seriously. You either laugh at yourself or you crack in these kinds of situations.
Two things I have learned from the experience:
It was crap. I have an even greater empathy for homeless people now that I have been one myself. Avoid the experience if you can. Secondly, there is not much you can do to get most homeless people out of their predicament. The physical condition of homelessness is just a symptom of much deeper issues going on within the individual. However it costs nothing to show homeless people some respect and give them some of your time and encouragement. Miracles do happen occasionally and a word of kindness and encouragement on the right day at the right time into the life of someone who has been treated like they have the plague can be a seed that gives them hope and somehow and in some way may restore them.
As for myself, having learned what I needed to learn from the experience. I eventually ate humble pie and asked for help from a good friend and today (only six months later) I now have much more than a roof over my head. I have begun to reconnect with family, friends and society. Sometimes one does have to lose that connection in order to appreciate that life is all about the connection of friends, family and community. The ultimate disconnection is homelessness. When this happens it is life's way of saying 'hey you have a problem with your relationships.' No man is an island and all that nonsense.