I’m a white man, dad to two lads, reasonably state educated, quietly spoken former bank manager so I guess perception and society would see me as privileged.
I had access to private health care through work, counselling if needed, and through hard work, made a decent living (not a city slicker before you ask).
Roll on into my forties, subtly my life degenerating, my head guiding me further down in a spiral, my actions more selfish, divisive, corrosive – that’s the gift of addiction.
Finally, street homeless, relationships busted, people walking past sneering at my patheticness.
What I still had was my voice, which didn’t match my appearance when I asked for help in my city.
What…. you can put a sentence together without swearing, you know things I don’t know, are you really homeless…. these were frequently used.
All that privilege from yesteryears, mmm🤔, maybe it helped me, and maybe still does today, but my own perspectives are no longer what they used to be – today I judge less, lose resentments that hold no point for me, I try to be kind and compassionate with everyone, I walk alongside people to get their voices heard and acted on, where possible.
It makes me tickle in ‘power meetings’ when I watch ‘egos in action’ (there’s a title of a comedy series in that if you want it!) trying to line up their wisdoms on ‘we will do this, do that for THEM’, without THEM being involved.
I’m rattling on now, creating possible resentments in ‘power them’ so I’d best stop while I can.
Keep safe, keep your voices loud and most importantly HEARD!