Stories on the Street: Open Source Structures for Writers to Help Support Invisible People

by Megan M. on August 30, 2009

Waiting for a good name for this one — feel free to suggest.

I want writers to go out and collect stories from people who are homeless — the invisible people, people who are struggling. Becky Blanton is SUCH a role model for this. But I want to take it one step further — I want the writers to write the stories, I want them to have a mechanism for publishing them, and half the income generated goes to the person who told the story.

So, picture this…

I’m a writer. I go downtown and I find people who are willing to tell me their stories. One man is willing to share his stories with me, so I go downtown several days in a row to talk to him and take notes — probably recording it, too.

I take the stories home and write them up and refine them. I go back downtown and share the final versions with my new friend, and I make changes if I need to.

Then I publish them — through a single company, maybe, that is producing a series of these kinds of stories. They’re published in such a way that most of the sales prices go straight to the authors. The writer gets half, and the person who told the story gets half. In cash, or in some kind of account, or something similar.

I’m still unclear on many parts of this, because I don’t understand how it works well enough yet. For instance, what’s the best way to pay people who have dropped through the cracks of the system? And would this work well enough to be useful at all to them? Could it be a fund, instead of regular payments, that builds until it’s enough money to really do something with (like pay for an apartment for six months)?

Could it be useful for anyone who is struggling and has a story to tell?

What if the place in question was a shelter, where each person staying at the shelter had an “account”, and the people in the shelter asked them to tell their stories in order to stay there, and the money generated from those stories was split between the person telling and the people running the place? And the money for the person telling could be put in a shelter account for them, and they could keep staying there until they had enough — like a job — to do something else.

It could be a large open source project, just a structure that anyone could apply and use. A guide for writers on how to do this, how to keep themselves safe, how to communicate well with people who are used to being / prefer to be invisible. How to be compassionate and understanding and friendly, how to avoid being ineffective or offensive. And how to help people tell their best stories!

I definitely need a lot of input on these ideas in order to refine them into something that makes a little more sense! Thoughts?

Additional Thought-Provoking Resources

Wow, serendipity — Becky’s post from today resonates with me along these same lines. My comment to her:

I would love to think up a system that gave these people — people who are sharp, talented, insightful, and can’t find a job for all of that — a sort of business liaison to the internet. Someone who could connect and manage for them, be guided by their stories and knowledge and understanding and create something that works for them online, where they can reach so many people with their particular personality and way of living. These people have so much more to teach now that they’ve experienced this lifestyle, and I can’t be the only one who wants badly that they share what they know.

I’m going to link to this post from the blueprint I posted this morning, since it seems like very similar territory and there is no doubt something being put together in my head — if I can just be patient enough to see where it goes!!

This blueprint is unfinished. Do you have suggestions or additional information? Leave a comment below or email me!

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Tagged as: homeless, invisible, publishing, stories, writers, writing

Megan Elizabeth Morris (aka MEM, Megan the M.) is a bonafide professional catalyst and adventurer. She's the Ideaschema instigator, orchestrator and autodidact, and you can find out more about her by clicking here.

Got an idea? Something we haven't thought of? Whatever you're thinking, we want to hear it. Please feel free to leave comments or email us by clicking here.

  • http://twitter.com/tiaramerchgirl Tiara the Merch Girl

    You both need to look up The Big Issue. It's an excellent regular magazine that is sold exclusively by homeless people. Half the cover price goes to the seller. The Australian one has brilliant writing on current affairs, pop culture, whatever – and they often feature issues on homelessness as well as a regular feature on a seller on page 3. They also do a lot of projects for homeless awareness, such as Choir of Hard Knocks, the Homeless World Cup (street soccer), and various fundraisers.

    They have editions in the UK, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Japan, Namibia, Kenya, and Malawi. Maybe you can start an American version? Let the homeless share their story; empower them.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Issue

  • http://twitter.com/tiaramerchgirl Tiara the Merch Girl

    Aha, here you go: there's an International Network of Street Press with tons of American (and international) members. I think it would be beneficial for both of you to get involved with organisations that already do this sort of thing, and build a project there.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Netw…

    It's one thing to go and collect stories yourself, type them up yourself, publish them yourself: the homeless person telling the story is passive, only there as a zoo animal to be gawked at and pitied. By working with street press you are supporting people who empower homeless people to take charge of their lives and support themselves. They're actively involved, they own their stories, they have control. Don't be their saviour – be their support.

  • http://blog.themerchgirl.net Tiara the Merch Girl

    You both need to look up The Big Issue. It's an excellent regular magazine that is sold exclusively by homeless people. Half the cover price goes to the seller. The Australian one has brilliant writing on current affairs, pop culture, whatever – and they often feature issues on homelessness as well as a regular feature on a seller on page 3. They also do a lot of projects for homeless awareness, such as Choir of Hard Knocks, the Homeless World Cup (street soccer), and various fundraisers.

    They have editions in the UK, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Japan, Namibia, Kenya, and Malawi. Maybe you can start an American version? Let the homeless share their story; empower them.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Issue

  • http://blog.themerchgirl.net Tiara the Merch Girl

    Aha, here you go: there's an International Network of Street Press with tons of American (and international) members. I think it would be beneficial for both of you to get involved with organisations that already do this sort of thing, and build a project there.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Netw…

    It's one thing to go and collect stories yourself, type them up yourself, publish them yourself: the homeless person telling the story is passive, only there as a zoo animal to be gawked at and pitied. By working with street press you are supporting people who empower homeless people to take charge of their lives and support themselves. They're actively involved, they own their stories, they have control. Don't be their saviour – be their support.

  • http://beckyblanton.com/ becky blanton

    Megan, I've been talking and sharing internet info with the folks I've been meeting. The big need is for access to computers and the internet. With netbooks coming down in price, it's possible for many of the working homeless to afford net access. Maybe we can start a website/b log for folks to publish their own stories? They just register and post. Many already are blogging, but there's no portal to pull them all together.

    Gawking? Yes…people do gawk and want to be savior, not supporter. But it's a start that they want to get involved at all. Not everyone CAN write and certainly not everyone can tell a compelling story even if they have one. That's where journalists come in. There are many homeless journalists, believe it or not. And I did get The Big Issue when I was in England. Didn't realize how many homeless there are in Oxford! Wow!

    Telling a story is entertaining and even educational but there needs to be a call to action of some sort – perhaps a goal of providing laptops instead of blankets eh? I depend heavily on public libraries, as do many of the homeless. Maybe instead of the televisions and stuff in shelters there should or could be sets of computers. Lots to think about. The goal IS support. What does that look like and for what end?

  • http://beckyblanton.com/391/pregnant-pauses/ beckyblanton » Blog Archive » Pregnant Pauses

    [...] or supporter? I read an interesting comment on a post by the magnificent Megan Morris – another one of the amazing graphics and writer types I [...]

  • http://beckyblanton.com/ becky blanton

    Megan, I've been talking and sharing internet info with the folks I've been meeting. The big need is for access to computers and the internet. With netbooks coming down in price, it's possible for many of the working homeless to afford net access. Maybe we can start a website/b log for folks to publish their own stories? They just register and post. Many already are blogging, but there's no portal to pull them all together.

    Gawking? Yes…people do gawk and want to be savior, not supporter. But it's a start that they want to get involved at all. Not everyone CAN write and certainly not everyone can tell a compelling story even if they have one. That's where journalists come in. There are many homeless journalists, believe it or not. And I did get The Big Issue when I was in England. Didn't realize how many homeless there are in Oxford! Wow!

    Telling a story is entertaining and even educational but there needs to be a call to action of some sort – perhaps a goal of providing laptops instead of blankets eh? I depend heavily on public libraries, as do many of the homeless. Maybe instead of the televisions and stuff in shelters there should or could be sets of computers. Lots to think about. The goal IS support. What does that look like and for what end?

  • http://twitter.com/stevedreamweavr steven weaver

    Your heart is in the right place & I know you mean well. As a former homeless person, I can tell you that the stories are seldom compelling and I doubt you'll learn much from them. I was lucky, I had the forethought to get me a voice mailbox for potential employers to reach me. My message was, “I'm never, but if I think you're important enough I'll eventually get back to you.” I also managed to land a job with GreenPeace right before I got evicted.(This was back when they were still doing door-to-door canvassing.) I was homeless the first 8 months I worked there. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that none of their stories will be interesting, just that the majority are basically this:
    For some reason a job was lost. Before another job can be found the person loses their residence. Finding a job (once you are homeless) is almost impossible because A)People are often afraid to hire the homeless assuming that someone who can't keep a home has a major flaw & B)How do you get in touch with someone who doesn't have an address to contact or a phone to call? The problem is aggravated by the fact that hygiene becomes a problem. Depression sets in, you give up hope and then, more often than not, you start rationalizing alcohol or drug abuse. You often hear people theorize that people become homeless due to a drug or alcohol problem. It's been my experience that the problem of substance abuse is as likely to be a result of homelessness as the cause. And lets not ignore mental illness. How hard is it to NOT become mentally ill when you suffer from depression? Guessing what percentage started out mentally ill versus how many developed mental illness is another quandary that probably can never be sorted out. I once knew a runaway girl, not yet 20, who had been raped so many times her mind had snapped. One Christmas she swore to everyone that a squirrel has given her an acorn as a Christmas present. My theory is that the squirrel just happened to drop an acorn near her and she so desperately wanted to believe that another living being cared, she decided to believe it was a gift.
    The fact that you want to help the homeless is commendable. So many segments of society prefer to ignore the problem, possibly because deep in their hearts they know that, “There but for the grace of God…”.
    There are no easy answers and I kind of doubt sharing their stories will generate much income. If you truly want to help, the most cost effective way I can think of is setting up a voice mail system so that these people will at least have a phone number where they can be reached. Pay phones are becoming more scarce each day but some still survive.
    You mentioned saving up 6 months of apartment rent. What about utilities? Deposits? Phone service? Not to mention that you'll find that a majority of the nations homeless are not living in shelters because the demand far exceeds the supply. The alternatives are there, I'm not just “raining on your parade”. Boarding houses are cheaper and include utilities, sometimes even a phone. As the economy worsens, more rooms for rent appear.
    Another solution might be to start a mentoring program that encourages families with abundant living space to adopt a homeless family and help them get back on their feet.
    There are no easy answers, but hopefully I've helped you see the problem from a slightly different perspective. You know how to reach me if you feel there is anything else I may have to offer. I'll be glad to help … see my website, morethanpoor.com .

  • http://twitter.com/stevedreamweavr steven weaver

    Your heart is in the right place & I know you mean well. As a former homeless person, I can tell you that the stories are seldom compelling and I doubt you'll learn much from them. I was lucky, I had the forethought to get me a voice mailbox for potential employers to reach me. My message was, “I'm never, but if I think you're important enough I'll eventually get back to you.” I also managed to land a job with GreenPeace right before I got evicted.(This was back when they were still doing door-to-door canvassing.) I was homeless the first 8 months I worked there. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that none of their stories will be interesting, just that the majority are basically this:
    For some reason a job was lost. Before another job can be found the person loses their residence. Finding a job (once you are homeless) is almost impossible because A)People are often afraid to hire the homeless assuming that someone who can't keep a home has a major flaw & B)How do you get in touch with someone who doesn't have an address to contact or a phone to call? The problem is aggravated by the fact that hygiene becomes a problem. Depression sets in, you give up hope and then, more often than not, you start rationalizing alcohol or drug abuse. You often hear people theorize that people become homeless due to a drug or alcohol problem. It's been my experience that the problem of substance abuse is as likely to be a result of homelessness as the cause. And lets not ignore mental illness. How hard is it to NOT become mentally ill when you suffer from depression? Guessing what percentage started out mentally ill versus how many developed mental illness is another quandary that probably can never be sorted out. I once knew a runaway girl, not yet 20, who had been raped so many times her mind had snapped. One Christmas she swore to everyone that a squirrel has given her an acorn as a Christmas present. My theory is that the squirrel just happened to drop an acorn near her and she so desperately wanted to believe that another living being cared, she decided to believe it was a gift.
    The fact that you want to help the homeless is commendable. So many segments of society prefer to ignore the problem, possibly because deep in their hearts they know that, “There but for the grace of God…”.
    There are no easy answers and I kind of doubt sharing their stories will generate much income. If you truly want to help, the most cost effective way I can think of is setting up a voice mail system so that these people will at least have a phone number where they can be reached. Pay phones are becoming more scarce each day but some still survive.
    You mentioned saving up 6 months of apartment rent. What about utilities? Deposits? Phone service? Not to mention that you'll find that a majority of the nations homeless are not living in shelters because the demand far exceeds the supply. The alternatives are there, I'm not just “raining on your parade”. Boarding houses are cheaper and include utilities, sometimes even a phone. As the economy worsens, more rooms for rent appear.
    Another solution might be to start a mentoring program that encourages families with abundant living space to adopt a homeless family and help them get back on their feet.
    There are no easy answers, but hopefully I've helped you see the problem from a slightly different perspective. You know how to reach me if you feel there is anything else I may have to offer. I'll be glad to help … see my website, morethanpoor.com .

  • thomqi

    I think Steven Weaver has some good points there, especially about the “story-worthiness”. Though, I think of that more in the sense of trying to make someone's life or experiences seem worthy. If successful in crafting such a worthy story, in displaying and sharing value from a such a series of events in someone's life, what does that say about the rest of their life? What does that say about others whose life's aren't so readily commercialized, that doesn't fit into the expectations of listeners, of story-readers?

    OTOH, I like the idea of sharing the stories anyways. Being informative has a lot of merit. I think this is very important.

    I also like the idea of creating some sort of fund. I wouldn't do that, and I think S.W. made some relevant points on that, but I like the idea. I also don't think you should feel it's been totally discounted, even after what I write next: What about considering something other than money? Take the middleman (money) out and provide what is needed for that person for that moment when you are “compensating” for what you feel you received?

    Personally, I have a hard time thinking in the way of compensation between people, but that is very likely just me (planet-wise, it sometimes seems like only me). I've shifted so much, and yet this is very much something that's been with me most my memorable life. As such, I seriously question the need to make or “help” everybody “fit in” by getting them jobs of periodic work to receive periodic income to make periodic payments on housing that won't fall apart at the end of the month. If anything, people not fitting in is surely a sign that it's not what works for everyone.

    As such, even though I don't believe much in the approach of money accounts (but hey, it's a start in thinking!), even though I sincerely doubt everyone could (or wants to) provide a story (another good idea to bounce around, though!), and even though I'm rather wary of promoting the inclusion of the Internet in their lives (a distraction, except where it makes sense for someone), I definitely believe the attention is worth it.

    In fact, the attention is what is missing. The invisibility is a prominent indicator of this.

    With further gathering of information (e.g. the seeking of stories), with attempts at providing for needs (e.g. monetary compensation personally or for shelters), with doing something new instead of just joining up with some groups who are already implementing their own ideas elsewhere, I believe you'll be increasing awareness, bringing the much needed attention that has been missing. And potentially, approaching it from a different angle.

    The reason I won't discourage you from doing anything you thought of and have mentioned, even though I wouldn't do them myself, is because I would have thought they were great ideas and done them myself (if so motivated as yourself) before becoming homeless. I don't think there is a “best” way of approaching this, and instead think you are discovering your own approach. You might not even go through with it, you may end up going along a different path of interests that has nothing to do with people described as homeless. This may be just another thought of something to do. However, if this does become a larger part in your life, I don't think you can go wrong with anything you thought of so far.

    With that, I'd say I learned the most about homelessness by experiencing it. Stories just don't cut it. I had heard them, I'd seen it in movies, I'd read similar accounts in novels both modern and fantasy, I'd notice people on the streets. Nothing is like having nothing. Pretending to have nothing, or having something to fallback on, just wouldn't be the same either.

    Yet, being the same experience isn't what matters. Everybody's experience is different, can't be otherwise. Go for it in whatever way takes you in whatever manner fits for you. I don't believe I would ever have imagined it like this, I don't believe I ever would have learned about other people in the same way because my mind would not have been opened (or setup) in the same manner. I can't imagine what else could have happened with my life to give me this same perspective, and I certainly didn't have it before.

    It's like going home with the thought of knowing someone is there waiting for you compared to going home and knowing someone won't be there because they died, or they left town, or you broke up. A different mindset opens me up to a different way of relating to whatever I'm experiencing. I believe being on the streets and learning about it is different than when living in an apartment, or living in a car, or living in a house, or living with lots of family, or living by oneself, if for the simple observation that it has been different in each circumstance. For me at least, I've notice my perspective is very much influenced by my circumstances.

    OTOH, living the same way or very similarly does not net the same resultant mindset or knowledge. I know this if not for the very reason I know of no one else living similarly who thinks like I do about this. Incidentally, I haven't revealed much of my own thoughts or suggestions here since I'm trying to keep this short. (Maybe later.) So, while I can't recommend living this way or insist you need to experience something similar, I also won't discount your own ideas since from deep down you are setting up your own path to obtain the experiences you feel are necessary for later paths. Or at least that's how it feels like it has been for me, and I can't help but wonder if the same is so for everyone, even people trapped in their “normal” lives, lives of routine, whether or not living on the streets.

    If you really listen to the stories, whether or not the stories have much truth to them, you'll likely figure out whatever type of compensation would be relevant for them, if any is needed or wanted. Thinking beforehand of ideas doesn't hurt, though, and being malleable in your approach will definitely help.

    Everyone is different. One way of living doesn't fit.

  • thomqi

    I think Steven Weaver has some good points there, especially about the “story-worthiness”. Though, I think of that more in the sense of trying to make someone's life or experiences seem worthy. If successful in crafting such a worthy story, in displaying and sharing value from a such a series of events in someone's life, what does that say about the rest of their life? What does that say about others whose life's aren't so readily commercialized, that doesn't fit into the expectations of listeners, of story-readers?

    OTOH, I like the idea of sharing the stories anyways. Being informative has a lot of merit. I think this is very important.

    I also like the idea of creating some sort of fund. I wouldn't do that, and I think S.W. made some relevant points on that, but I like the idea. I also don't think you should feel it's been totally discounted, even after what I write next: What about considering something other than money? Take the middleman (money) out and provide what is needed for that person for that moment when you are “compensating” for what you feel you received?

    Personally, I have a hard time thinking in the way of compensation between people, but that is very likely just me (planet-wise, it sometimes seems like only me). I've shifted so much, and yet this is very much something that's been with me most my memorable life. As such, I seriously question the need to make or “help” everybody “fit in” by getting them jobs of periodic work to receive periodic income to make periodic payments on housing that won't fall apart at the end of the month. If anything, people not fitting in is surely a sign that it's not what works for everyone.

    As such, even though I don't believe much in the approach of money accounts (but hey, it's a start in thinking!), even though I sincerely doubt everyone could (or wants to) provide a story (another good idea to bounce around, though!), and even though I'm rather wary of promoting the inclusion of the Internet in their lives (a distraction, except where it makes sense for someone), I definitely believe the attention is worth it.

    In fact, the attention is what is missing. The invisibility is a prominent indicator of this.

    With further gathering of information (e.g. the seeking of stories), with attempts at providing for needs (e.g. monetary compensation personally or for shelters), with doing something new instead of just joining up with some groups who are already implementing their own ideas elsewhere, I believe you'll be increasing awareness, bringing the much needed attention that has been missing. And potentially, approaching it from a different angle.

    The reason I won't discourage you from doing anything you thought of and have mentioned, even though I wouldn't do them myself, is because I would have thought they were great ideas and done them myself (if so motivated as yourself) before becoming homeless. I don't think there is a “best” way of approaching this, and instead think you are discovering your own approach. You might not even go through with it, you may end up going along a different path of interests that has nothing to do with people described as homeless. This may be just another thought of something to do. However, if this does become a larger part in your life, I don't think you can go wrong with anything you thought of so far.

    With that, I'd say I learned the most about homelessness by experiencing it. Stories just don't cut it. I had heard them, I'd seen it in movies, I'd read similar accounts in novels both modern and fantasy, I'd notice people on the streets. Nothing is like having nothing. Pretending to have nothing, or having something to fallback on, just wouldn't be the same either.

    Yet, being the same experience isn't what matters. Everybody's experience is different, can't be otherwise. Go for it in whatever way takes you in whatever manner fits for you. I don't believe I would ever have imagined it like this, I don't believe I ever would have learned about other people in the same way because my mind would not have been opened (or setup) in the same manner. I can't imagine what else could have happened with my life to give me this same perspective, and I certainly didn't have it before.

    It's like going home with the thought of knowing someone is there waiting for you compared to going home and knowing someone won't be there because they died, or they left town, or you broke up. A different mindset opens me up to a different way of relating to whatever I'm experiencing. I believe being on the streets and learning about it is different than when living in an apartment, or living in a car, or living in a house, or living with lots of family, or living by oneself, if for the simple observation that it has been different in each circumstance. For me at least, I've notice my perspective is very much influenced by my circumstances.

    OTOH, living the same way or very similarly does not net the same resultant mindset or knowledge. I know this if not for the very reason I know of no one else living similarly who thinks like I do about this. Incidentally, I haven't revealed much of my own thoughts or suggestions here since I'm trying to keep this short. (Maybe later.) So, while I can't recommend living this way or insist you need to experience something similar, I also won't discount your own ideas since from deep down you are setting up your own path to obtain the experiences you feel are necessary for later paths. Or at least that's how it feels like it has been for me, and I can't help but wonder if the same is so for everyone, even people trapped in their “normal” lives, lives of routine, whether or not living on the streets.

    If you really listen to the stories, whether or not the stories have much truth to them, you'll likely figure out whatever type of compensation would be relevant for them, if any is needed or wanted. Thinking beforehand of ideas doesn't hurt, though, and being malleable in your approach will definitely help.

    Everyone is different. One way of living doesn't fit.

  • thomqi

    I think Steven Weaver has some good points there, especially about the “story-worthiness”. Though, I think of that more in the sense of trying to make someone's life or experiences seem worthy. If successful in crafting such a worthy story, in displaying and sharing value from a such a series of events in someone's life, what does that say about the rest of their life? What does that say about others whose life's aren't so readily commercialized, that doesn't fit into the expectations of listeners, of story-readers?

    OTOH, I like the idea of sharing the stories anyways. Being informative has a lot of merit. I think this is very important.

    I also like the idea of creating some sort of fund. I wouldn't do that, and I think S.W. made some relevant points on that, but I like the idea. I also don't think you should feel it's been totally discounted, even after what I write next: What about considering something other than money? Take the middleman (money) out and provide what is needed for that person for that moment when you are “compensating” for what you feel you received?

    Personally, I have a hard time thinking in the way of compensation between people, but that is very likely just me (planet-wise, it sometimes seems like only me). I've shifted so much, and yet this is very much something that's been with me most my memorable life. As such, I seriously question the need to make or “help” everybody “fit in” by getting them jobs of periodic work to receive periodic income to make periodic payments on housing that won't fall apart at the end of the month. If anything, people not fitting in is surely a sign that it's not what works for everyone.

    As such, even though I don't believe much in the approach of money accounts (but hey, it's a start in thinking!), even though I sincerely doubt everyone could (or wants to) provide a story (another good idea to bounce around, though!), and even though I'm rather wary of promoting the inclusion of the Internet in their lives (a distraction, except where it makes sense for someone), I definitely believe the attention is worth it.

    In fact, the attention is what is missing. The invisibility is a prominent indicator of this.

    With further gathering of information (e.g. the seeking of stories), with attempts at providing for needs (e.g. monetary compensation personally or for shelters), with doing something new instead of just joining up with some groups who are already implementing their own ideas elsewhere, I believe you'll be increasing awareness, bringing the much needed attention that has been missing. And potentially, approaching it from a different angle.

    The reason I won't discourage you from doing anything you thought of and have mentioned, even though I wouldn't do them myself, is because I would have thought they were great ideas and done them myself (if so motivated as yourself) before becoming homeless. I don't think there is a “best” way of approaching this, and instead think you are discovering your own approach. You might not even go through with it, you may end up going along a different path of interests that has nothing to do with people described as homeless. This may be just another thought of something to do. However, if this does become a larger part in your life, I don't think you can go wrong with anything you thought of so far.

    With that, I'd say I learned the most about homelessness by experiencing it. Stories just don't cut it. I had heard them, I'd seen it in movies, I'd read similar accounts in novels both modern and fantasy, I'd notice people on the streets. Nothing is like having nothing. Pretending to have nothing, or having something to fallback on, just wouldn't be the same either.

    Yet, being the same experience isn't what matters. Everybody's experience is different, can't be otherwise. Go for it in whatever way takes you in whatever manner fits for you. I don't believe I would ever have imagined it like this, I don't believe I ever would have learned about other people in the same way because my mind would not have been opened (or setup) in the same manner. I can't imagine what else could have happened with my life to give me this same perspective, and I certainly didn't have it before.

    It's like going home with the thought of knowing someone is there waiting for you compared to going home and knowing someone won't be there because they died, or they left town, or you broke up. A different mindset opens me up to a different way of relating to whatever I'm experiencing. I believe being on the streets and learning about it is different than when living in an apartment, or living in a car, or living in a house, or living with lots of family, or living by oneself, if for the simple observation that it has been different in each circumstance. For me at least, I've notice my perspective is very much influenced by my circumstances.

    OTOH, living the same way or very similarly does not net the same resultant mindset or knowledge. I know this if not for the very reason I know of no one else living similarly who thinks like I do about this. Incidentally, I haven't revealed much of my own thoughts or suggestions here since I'm trying to keep this short. (Maybe later.) So, while I can't recommend living this way or insist you need to experience something similar, I also won't discount your own ideas since from deep down you are setting up your own path to obtain the experiences you feel are necessary for later paths. Or at least that's how it feels like it has been for me, and I can't help but wonder if the same is so for everyone, even people trapped in their “normal” lives, lives of routine, whether or not living on the streets.

    If you really listen to the stories, whether or not the stories have much truth to them, you'll likely figure out whatever type of compensation would be relevant for them, if any is needed or wanted. Thinking beforehand of ideas doesn't hurt, though, and being malleable in your approach will definitely help.

    Everyone is different. One way of living doesn't fit.

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