I found Yonge Street without a map! I've always thought of myself as having a poor sense of direction, but I discovered yesterday that if I allow myself to walk in the wrong direction for a little while, I will eventually realize that I'm going the wrong way and will make it home in the end. I just need a little time, patience, and spatial awareness.
I made my way to the Eaton Centre yesterday and basked in the unspoken inner peace that comes with consumerism ("if I buy that blouse I will succeed in all that I do and all will be right with the world"). 
Case in point: See how "happy" I look trying on my new "Best Sale of the Year" outfits?
I felt overwhelmed with the unlimited options unfolding before me in our hotel room. Shall I catch up on Facebook happenings? Watch some TV? Use indoor plumbing with new and improved heated toilet seats? So many choices, so little time.
Restless: worried and uneasy; ceaselessly in motion.
On my walk back from the mall, gleefully swaying my shopping bags to and fro, I slipped past several homeless citizens of Toronto, trying to make myself invisible. Things just didn't add up in my mind; how could I be heading to a room of luxury with unneeded fashion clothes in tow when fellow members of the world sit hungry and homeless on the side of the road before my very eyes? When I actually allow myself to think of these things it feels like there's just too much wrong with the world and I become overwhelmed. But the world just keeps on turning. We are ceaselessly in motion, but do we know where we are going? Any why?
Sharon
1 comment:
I must admit that ever since I've lived in downtown Montreal, I feel a lot less bad about all the homeless. The fact of the matter is, atleast half of them COULD have a home if they wanted. Most of them have chosen this life. The crackhead that used to live in front of where I lived, who spent his day pan handling everytime the lights went red, makes more money than I do in a day. There's no doubt about that. (I've spoken to him many times and watched him - he really does make a lot of money !) He chooses to spend in on crack. The squeegee kids think of it as "camping". All summer long they're living on the streets, but when it gets cold they go to their family's home for the rest of the winter. (Or they turn themselves into the police who take them to jail for the rest of the winter -- to pay off all the tickets they got for panhandling)
Obviously there are lots of exceptions to this, and if I was able to figure out who is homeless by choice and who isn't, I would help those who aren't there by choice. In a way, the "homeless" people that aren't really homeless are ruining it for the ones who are.
... not sure if any of this made sense to you .. :)
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