Overview
The sleep is scattered. It’s a challenge getting used to sleeping on a hard surface. The more time I spend with other homeless people, the more I learn. I definitely over packed for this venture, so this weekend, I will reduce my load. I work to find places to stash my stuff during the day like planet fitness, so I don’t have to lug it around all the time, then I have to make sure I lock my bike up in a safe place. I have to carry my gear with me everywhere so it doesn’t get stolen. Losing something like the key to my bike lock, my wallet or my phones would put a huge damper on things for me. I enjoyed visiting some resources and some friends today. I went to the Public Gardens in Boston and made friends with some squirrels. I visited the Boston Library, I visited StepRox Recovery Center in Roxbury and saw some friends, I went to St. Francis House Homelessness day Shelter and ate lunch and saw a friend, I went to Devine Recovery Center in South Boston and connected with some friends, and I worked out at the L Street Bath house. Those Romans sure knew what they were doing when they invented the bath house!
Emotionalization
I was thinking today about what could be the root cause to the explosion in addiction and Homelessness. I was thinking back to the 1950s nuclear family and work ideals. People drank whole milk and ate butter all day and were in good shape. The ideal was work hard, and stay active. People are built to be active. With over indulgence and and low activity our bodies and minds will atrophy. We see what can happen to cats and dogs that are over pampered and over fed. This came to mind while I was talking to a friend today. My friend said something to the effect that in the processes of helping addicted and homeless people he noticed many people expect some kind of payment or incentive for participating in activities that help them get better. As if to say just having support and resources to overcome their suffering isn’t enough.
Has technology caused many of us to become apathetic to the importance of biological and mental health in relation to how we interact with our environment? I think it has, I think we are becoming weaker as a society and a species, because we no longer have to use our minds and bodies to accomplish the art of living a good life, or perhaps I should say live a comfortable life. Today a good life comes in the form of a pill, a screen, or some other form of instantaneous gratification.
The Run Down
5:10 a.m. I wake up at an Undisclosed location with LA, Kim, and Frankie. When Frankie wakes up I tell him how aggressive drunk he was last night. Frankie apologizes profusely, which seems like a scripted well practiced delivery. I tell Frankie no worries, I just wanted to make him aware of his behavior. I eat an apple and drink some chocolate milk, and finish up the blog. The documentation work is extensive. I ask Jane what kind of blow up mattress she has? She tells me it’s an Exped and they’re expensive. I ended up ordering one online later that day! I ask LA what his plans are for the day, and he said he likes to hang out at Boston library. I plan on talking more with LA.
6:15 a.m. go to Boston Gardens to continue documenting. I attract some squirrels with my almonds and get some great videos. One brave squirrel who I named Mr. Naughty Nuts, it could have been a girl squirrel, then it would be Ms. Naughty Nuts, was a star. I finish the Post for the first blog, chill on the park bench, and eventually Head over to Boston library at 8:30am.
9 a.m. I get to the library and start charging my phones. I see a tent outside the library window and some people living there. The plan is to head over to StepRox to see Nick a recovery coach and good friend. I’m definitely definitely feeling tired today.
10 a.m. I head over to the StepRox Recovery center in Roxbury. On the way I see a class of kids crossing the street they all have yellow shirts on and kinda look like ducklings š„. When I get to StepRox I have a great talk with Nick, I was impressed by the adversity Nick had overcome in his life like prison for murder, and how he had used his experiences to educate himself, and help others. I also got to meet Miss Lorena the Director of Steprox. Miss Lorena, who I liked right away, is a woman who exudes wisdom and compassion, she kindly allowed me to leave my stuff at StepRox while I went to see my friend Juan at St Francis House in downtown Boston.Ā
11:50 a.m. I arrive at St. Francis House, a multi-teared day center for Homeless people. My friend Juan works at the Recovery center called Room to Grow, on the 5th floor, but before I go see him, I want to get something to eat. I get my membership card at the front desk, and head to the cafeteria. They are serving a vegetable chowder with bread, and salad, I get orange juice to drink. I go around for seconds. The only thing I didn’t like about the meal is they used the same kind of serving trays they use in prison. It had a very institutiony feel to it.
I head up to the recovery center where I meet Juan. We have a great conversation about homelessness, life, and relationships. I wish I fuckin recorded it. After that I go down to the second floor to the clinic to get my health insurance straightened out. The nurse there was very kind, funny and helpful, I was on the phone for about half an hour getting mass health. I leave St Francis house around 2:30pm to head back to StepRox.
3:00 p.m. I Arrive at StepRox recovery center and hang out and charge my phones. Miss Lorena and Nick are having a meeting, so I sit and entertain myself on my phones while they charge. After about an hour I leave StepRox and to go visit my friend Donald at the Devine Recovery CenterĀ in South Boston.
4:10 p.m. I Arrive at Devine Recovery Center and spend some time with Donald and make a new friend Dug. We have a great conversation! The Donald is kind enough to let me leave one of my backpacks at the center while I go work out at the L Street bath house.
4:45 p.m. I go to the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston. I get a light work out in, jump in the ocean for a dip, hit the steam room, and take a shower. God I love this place.
6:00 p.m. I head over and get my dinner at star market. I get some cereal, some beef pockets, a little cherry pie, milk, and cheff boyardi raviolis. I eat the pie and some frosted flakes, and am lucky enough to get a black cancer flake. Next I head over to get my bag at the Devine recovery center.
7:30 I settled down ready for bed. I’m exhausted. I do not sleep well. It has been 2 nights with poor sleep. I am happy to be sleeping alone, and on sand.
HINDSIGHT 2/23/2025
What I can say about day 2 is, it was fast learning. What I mean by fast learning is that I began to utilize my connections, realized I had way too much gear, and figured out that it’s probably best to sleep by myself. Being homeless and traveling around was great exercise. But it wears on you. Finding the places where I can have community, food, and safety was my top priority.
When I began to travel to places I wasn’t as familiar with like Boston. I knew the places that would be accepting of me and offer me the resources I needed. I learned how to ask people for the things I needed from a place of homelessness. It was really good in the beginning to know people and have places to go. Which set the stage later for more efficient resource navigation.
A form of thinking that will develop with this story is the power of relationships. Relationships develop on all levels of human connection. First there’s a place, then there are things, and then there’s other people. People develop relationships with everything in their environment including other people. It’s a natural process due to the social nature of our species, it’s how our brain is wired. I learned that how we develop relationships is crucial to all human health and happiness.
On its face this last paragraph seems obvious and simple. But it’s not, because the complexity of human experience and human psychology means there are infinite ways that people form relationships.
What I found with the people that were homeless, is the relationships they had with their environment, their possessions, and the people around them were very toxic. These relationships might have provided some form of connection or grounding, but the relationship in itself was unstable and caused psychological and physical harm. When a human being suffers physical and psychological harm that harm then spreads back out into the environment where they dwell.
How was the swim?
It was good