August 6th-7th
What errrp.
What I Learned from Homelessness
Alrighty so the '“homeless” grind is over. (I put homeless in quotes because I slept at quite a few homes and oc is not far from Oceanside where I grew up). I got ridiculously unorganized during the last month and a half of gypsying, but I’d say I learned a thing or two from it. I learned that the need for community is real, especially if you are an extravert such as myself. It was my first time in years not having roommates and I found myself calling or texting my friends more often than usual.
Something else that I find interesting, is the narrative I told myself about being homeless. The reason I became “homeless” was because I moved out of the beach house on the 7th of June and had a work trip planned from June 20 something until basically July 8th. I had a bed through those dates. So I figured, why not just save money and couch hop. I’ve been planning on a move to LA so this is a perfect time to save money! And it’s perfect to stay around here because I have friends and surf lessons and some other random work that could come my way. And the surf!<— That’s one narrative. The other narrative was a bit darker, and I felt it creeping up on me often. It consisted of me thinking that I was incapable, lost, directionless, a loser, and immature. Also, I felt some shame being homeless and wanted to avoid pity at all costs. I didn’t tell those who asked that I was living in my truck for the first few weeks (so many people asked where I was living for some reason). I would give them extremely vague answers and change the subject right away. This answer was me adhering to the darker narrative. I eventually got tired of lying to myself and others about my living situation and started to flat out tell anyone who asked (so many for some reason I’m telling you) that I was crashing in my truck for a little and would give them a why. <— First Narrative.
The experience was actually somewhat inspired by Tim Ferris and his thoughts on “fear setting” - the opposite of goal setting. I conquered my fear of not having a place to live by living in my crappy old truck for a while. Now I know that if things go wrong in LA and I really can’t pay the rent, I have somewhere to be. The truck is a major blessing. I have a buddy who sleeps in his small car and has been doing it for over a year! I don’t know how he does that, but more power to him? Also, the people that are actually homeless?!? I cant’ imagine that. This experience made sleeping in a van feel like a mansion. We’ll see if I ever have to do that again. The plan is not to, but still maybe… crap.
New Adventure for August
Just got to the pod last night! The people here seem pretty rad. The first night consisted of Just Dance, free pizza, a work out, and a workshop from myintent.org. I scooted here from Orange County with a plan to head back to Orange County to grab my truck and all my stuff. The shoebox picture is where I’ll be sleeping. I tested it out last night and it’s bitchin’.
At the time of writing, I have nothing but the clothes on my back and my scooter. Whoops.
Couple Books
I read Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for LIfe: An Antidote to Chaos. Stoked I read it.. well listened to it. And I’m currently in the process of listening to it again. I love how he talks about purpose. He says it is found where chaos and order intersect. Living right on the edge of your capabilities, continuously pushing yourself and growing. (well I think I summarized that right. Gonna read it again.)
Also listened to Just Kids by Patti Smith. It’s a story of a couple of artists and it’s quite gnarly to hear what they went through in the early days of their career. It was also quite interesting to hear a story of a man discovering his sexuality. It was a fun read/listen and it kinda made me want to cry at times.