On Blogging and Homelessness

Somehow blogging got misconstrued as some private endeavor that should be treated as such. I disagree. A blog is a public space on the internet where people congregate to read about each other’s lives and their thoughts and ideas. It can be a powerful tool for getting your voice heard or causing change however small. I found the biggest change coming from my blog in me. I have learned to think and put down my ideas in a way where others can read them. I find it very therapeutic to be able to organize and write down my thoughts and aspirations. I also have the ability to get comments from those of you that have read. Sometimes they are just support and encouragement comments and other times they have been suggestions and advice that I have put to work in my real life. Through the comments, I have learned to listen to what others have to say and to use advice and not always think that my way is the only way.

When I was homeless and would ride over here everyday on my motorcycle to get on the internet and get out of the cold, I would eagerly anticipate the comments I would get. Sometimes it would even make me nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. Here I was writing about my life and very personally for all to see. I shared some of my best moments and some of my hardest as well. All in all people were kind and supportive and you don’t know how much that meant to me. To log on and find out that people were reading what I had to write and they wanted to see me overcome the obstacles in my life. That meant a lot to me and I appreciated it very much. I still do and will never forget it.

When we write a blog and start to garner a readership you take on a certain amount of responsibility. Especially when you write a blog that has central theme such as mental illness or homelessness. People begin to expect certain things out of you and hope you make the right decisions. When I first started blogging, I wanted to be a homeless success story. I didn’t want to be like the many homeless blogs I had read where the person flounders in squalor and homelessness. I wanted to show you all that it could be overcome and that with hard work and diligence I could change my situation. I am proud to report that things have come a long way but still have a ways to go. I am still embarking on that journey out of homelessness. But now I have some great successes under my belt and it instills confidence and a drive to go ever onward.

Okay, so I have written a little about blogging and what it has meant to me and what I think about it. I have also written about comments and the responsibility that comes with a blog that deals with a central theme such as mental illness or homelessness. I now want to steer my course to what I mainly wanted to talk about today: Don’t be afraid to ask questions! There seems to be this invisible boundary that we are afraid to cross when it comes to asking a blog author questions about his experiences and what he is doing to help. It is as if we will come across as rude or nosey or if a blog is this personal sacred space that shall not be desecrated. A personal warning sign that pops up now for me is when a popular blog that deals with a very sensitive or controversial subject does not have comments; especially when they are using that controversial subject for gain and claiming to be an advocate for that cause or subject. Immediately little red flags pop up in my head and I grow wary.

You have a right to ask questions and get answers especially when it is a blog based on a subject that effects a great deal of people. I wish people would ask more questions that need to be asked such as the ones below and these are some questions I need to answer as well…..(these are just some general ideas)

a) You claim to be an advocate for the homeless, what are you doing and how are you helping? What are your ideas for lessening homelessness in our cities?
b) How are you putting the funds and material things generated from your blog to work helping the homeless and others? Have you ever given monetarily to the very shelters and systems that support you?
c) Mental illness is a touchy subject with many and people tip toe around the issues. How can you better make people understand that by talking about it we can remove some of the stigma involved and get people help?
d) You want a computer from your readers and claim it will help in your advocacy work. How will you use this computer to help advocate for the homeless instead of just personal gain or entertainment? Give us some tangible ideas and then write about it so we can see it implemented.

I will reiterate again, don’t be afraid to ask questions. I would expect these same questions to be asked of me as well. It is your money and your good will that is being used here. Would you not expect a shelter you gave a large sum to, to be accountable for that generous offer? You would want that generosity going to help people as you intended and not just to make the shelter workers more comfortable. I know I would want to be able to step into a shelter and see my money going to good work and any shelter that has nothing to hide would welcome you in and show you around. They would encourage you to get involved and to ask questions.

Well, I will close as I am starting to lose my train of thought and this essay is spinning out of my control. I am starting to lose the focus that I began with. Don’t forget that you have a right to ask questions and that a blog author who is using a controversial subject as his central tenet has a responsibility to you and others and should be forth coming about his blog and what he is doing to help. I would expect no less from my self.