24

"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go."
- Tennessee Williams.

Time. It's an idea or concept that many people take for granted or ignore until they find themselves running out of it. There are only so many hours in a day and our schedules are often so packed that we never seem to find a spare minute. How we construct our days are, largely, our own doing. We might complain about the job we have or the events dictating our existence, but many people are products of an environment in which they have some semblance of control.

It's rare to hear a person lament the overabundance of time on their hands.

This is not a tangible reality for a lot of people so the idea of 'killing time' loses meaning. As a rigid schedule marches an individual through the day, a byproduct emerges from the chaos of such a frenzied routine: purpose. The fact that a person is so busy implies there is an element of purpose to their life that is driving them to be that busy in the first place. When an individual can assign meaning to their life, that life becomes not only tolerable, but an air of excitement and hope seeps in.

But what happens when a person is faced with countless hours and not much to do? Being left alone with nothing more than your thoughts and reflections can cage a person and remind them that life is not turning out the way they imagined. Not having a strict schedule allows the mind to wander to places that can produce joy and madness in a single moment.

My name is Curt and I'm the new guy at Samaritan house. My next post will be an hourly comparison between myself and a resident at Samaritan House. Draw from this what you will. How does your day parallel the life of the homeless? I am not asking you to walk a mile in another person's shoes; instead just imagine a different day.