Being a citizen of the world can often mean that we spend as much time outside of our homes as we do inside. It can also mean that we can go through periods of our lives not having or perhaps even wanting a home. With a home, whether renting or owning, comes even more responsibility…to this structure that protects us from the harsher elements and for some, many even, to those who live next door to us.
I recently read an account of a man who had fallen on hard times and became homeless as a result. He had two children as well and while setting up a tent near a service station he had for them on the “camping adventure” they had embarked on when he was no longer able to remain in his home, he and his children were approached a couple days later by a woman who had seen them there with an offering of some food and drink.
She told him that she had a property nearby that her folks had left to her with a small farm and some other folks who were helping out with basic tasks that needed done while they too, were moving through to their next destination, in exchange for lodging. It wasn’t much but he and his children were welcome to stay if they wanted.
You may be guessing how this ends, hopefully in a good way (because it does) or maybe you’re having all kinds of other thoughts, memories of your own unique unhoused experience – it’s ok, these kinds of stories are meant in some way not only to emphasize the importance of community, but also of the human spirit to connect.
We can only stay holed up in our homes on our own for so long before changes in our mental health (often not for the better) occur…our recent pandemic being a testament to this knowledge.
So consider this, if you have a home that you can open to others in the community in some way, what way could or would that be? I’m not necessarily suggesting that you do this (though it may very well be a wonderful thing for you to do), just that you imagine that people all over the world have done this, are doing this and will likely continue doing this in some way, shape or form as long as we’re all sharing what habitable space there is on this incredible Earth.
TimeSpaceOne 