Fwd: On being homeless

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "mark kilburn" <mkilbu01@gmail.com>
Date: Aug 7, 2010 3:38 AM
Subject: On being homeless
To: <go@blogspot.com>

I think the first thing to talk about is being homeless. I'm not sure what the definition is, but I figure having no roof qualifies. Having a truck and a job, I think, takes me out of the indigent category, but one thing I've noticed is that I spend a certain amount of thought energy seperating myself from the "vagrents" (correct spelling?); the people who just sort of leach off of society.

There are mental defectives, addicts, and con-persons. And there are old people. There are good, bad, soiled, and innocent. What I find interesting though, is my need to categorize, and to define myself as better than these, and maybe less than these... Whenever I notice I'm doing it, I stop because I know it is a waste of energy. We are all equal, we're just, definitely, on different paths.

So I see myself as a camper...a traveler. I enjoy creating comfort for myself while I live, blatantly, in the world.  I find pleasure in knowing where the clean restrooms are, where to get a good and cheap cup of coffee, and in being able to wait on people who have enough money to vacation in south beach, without anyone knowing I sleep on an air matress in the bed of my truck, and "shower" with salt water.

I guess what I'm trying to convey here is that I see myself and others comparing...defining ourselves by who we are better than, and who we are not as good as. And I guess how you do that, who "those" are, says something about yourself. But maybe a better way is to simply say "I am no better, and no worse then that person", and get on with finding the best, cheapest, cup of coffee within a 10 block walking radius.

...

Just met a guy who is a soldier in the French army. I am at the hostel where I came first. This is why I am a traveler; I find myself in everyone I meet, no matter how far either of us are from our homes...