Homelessness...

A few fellow Vagabonds and I recently got the opportunity to spend some time with the homeless population of L.A. I have spent time with the homeless in Morgantown, but I've never in my life experienced anything like downtown L.A. at night. We didn't even make it to the area of highest homeless concentration, but there were people on every corner, sleeping. In this land of excess and wealth there is a forgotten group of people who literally sleep on the doorstep of excess. We got the chance to spend some time talking with a few different people and every time I spend time with these people I find it harder to retreat to a warm bed when I get cold or tired...

I was thinking last night about how easy and hard it would be at the same time for me to end up homeless. I really don't know if I could survive in that atmosphere... The streets are hard... I'm not sure there is any way to no the extent of this without experiencing it. I experienced it once in Morgantown when we left our safe circle to go round up people to come get food. We walked down the rail-trail and got caught in the middle of an arguing/cussing match with baseball bats involved. I immediately thought of this event when our new friend Papa Wayne gave us some advice. He said that, "on the streets, you have to deal with people on their own level. If they want to deal on an intelligent level then you have to do it that way, but if they want to deal on a physical level, well, I'm good at that."

I want to give a little background on Papa Wayne at this point. His name is Carol Wayne(I wouldn't call him that upon first meeting him or you might risk a beating:-). He is one of the most loving and amazing people I've ever met in my entire life... He's a veteran of the conflict in Vietnam. He's a pack rat. We took food to him and left with more stuff than we came with. He couldn't believe how lucky Justin and I were to live in a house with 12 women(although we argued emphatically that we were not lucky at all, more cursed). In all honesty though, I have no idea how he ended up where he is. I do know that he's been in the same general area for roughly 18 years.

I read recently that it is projected that in the near future there will be 1.5 million more homeless people in the U.S. That number isn't acceptable... I don't know what the solution is. I know that God has a heart for the poor. He loves everyone, but dealing with the poor is a common thread through the whole thing. It is not acceptable for "The Church" to take food out once a week and pat themselves on the back for "helping" and then go back to warm beds... I mean anything we do is good but it's not enough. We live lives of such excess with cars, computers, ipods, cell phones, clothes, cameras, shoes, bikes, big houses, hundreds of dollars worth of camping gear, and we've even surrounded ourselves with fancy leather bound Bibles... Most of those things are pulled directly from my life...

I don't have a pretty picture to go along with this blog because there's no way to capture what I'm feeling...

This post is already too long, but I have more to say... We met with Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Shoes, yesterday and I have reflections to talk about from that meeting. He's a pretty amazing dude and for sure an inspiration in many ways!

Leaving you with mucho love!

~D

Another year closer to death...:-)

So it's my birthday! I figured it would be a great opportunity to give an update on all things me...:-) I really don't feel any older... I don't want to let myself get old. I know people who are my age who seem much older than I am. I don't think it's a maturity issue though... I know I am mature, I just love to be goofy and have a good time. Anyway that's a little update on what's in my brain but I'm gonna talk a little more other stuff this time.

This time 23 years ago my mom was not having fun...

Today my friends from Morgantown sent a birthday package that blew me away with the level of thoughtfulness and love that was in that little box!!! I'm continually impressed by them! It worries me that the life changes I'm going through now, and will go through it the next few months, will grow us in different directions... I know we have one thing that draws us together that we can never lose!

My teammates are pretty great also!!! They used their negative baking skills to whip up some cupcakes last night for my bday complete with purple turds on top. They tried to make it a surprise but they aren't very smooth:-) I love them though, and I can already see bonds developing that will carry us through the rough patches of getting on each others nerves. I included a pic at the top of us doing our signature three way high five! The patent is pending on that so no one steal it!

My parents and sisters are also pretty great! They have been so supportive of this whole endeavor even when they weren't sure if it was the best idea ever! I love them more than they know and love the people they are and are becoming! I really miss them... My phone was blowing up before I was out of bed this morning cause my Dad was calling to wish me a happy birthday. Kayla wrote on my wall on facebook way before I ever thought about waking up(3:00am our time). She also attached herself so much to my cause that she applied to be a campus rep at her school! She's becoming an amazing person who IS going to change the world! I have absolutely no doubt!!!

Anyway, Just watched the video from the Morgantown crew!!! Tiff, if you made that, I do hate you, but for making me cry in front of everyone.!.!.! Love ya though, and you continue to inspire me with you life and your words of wisdom! Thanks for listening to me complain with an open mind and asking the right questions!

I'm gonna go enjoy the moment,

~D