Magnanimous Beauty: No Matter The Weather...

Saturday, March 5, 2011

No Matter The Weather...

Today is another one of those days... windy... bitterly cold... snow flurries... and last night there was a thunder storm. If you've been following me for any length of time, you already know that I have a "more than" full-time job, working (at minimum) 50 hours each week. I mention this for a very specific reason: I worked last night and, as I was running after work - at midnight - from point A to point B, I stepped into a large, splashy puddle. In the bone chilling night air. It. Was. Awful. My socks were immediately drenched. And it instantly made me think of all of the homeless people on the streets who aren't lucky enough to go someplace warm to change clothes and curl up under warm covers after a hot bath at night.

So guess where I'm going today. That's right - the pink bag is packed with socks, socks and more clean, dry socks to distribute.

Oh! And today, I'll be bringing something else (I'm VERY excited about this): HOME MADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP! A very kind person gifted a large, sturdy thermos to the project. I'm so excited to be able to offer this to the people I'll visit on the streets today! I'll post an update to this entry when I get home tonight.

Until then...

One last note for now: I will be exporting this blog to ChicagoNow, a highly trafficked online site owned by the Chicago Tribune. The blog will also have a new name: The Pink Bag Project: Neighboring The Neighborless.

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Magnanimous Beauty Defined:

What exactly is magnanimous beauty and why did I choose that particular name for this blog? This intro is a bit on the long side. Bear with me - it's worth the read!

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Magnanimous beauty is beauty that comes from within - noble, illuminating, inner beauty. Our society is so incredibly hyper-focused on that which is easily seen... the perfect body, the latest fashions, having the coolest gadgetry. Even if we have none of these things, there are certain societal norms that we are expected to conform to and those who don't are considered undesirable, lesser people.

Did you see a panhandler on the street while you were out doing your holiday shopping? He's probably a con-artist looking to get his share of the pie, going home to a nice apartment at the end of an underhanded day. Did you see a homeless person with missing teeth, bad body odor, smelling of urine? Gross, right? Why don't these people get "real" jobs and quit bothering the rest of us? Let's be honest. Most of us have had one or more of these thoughts run through our minds. These street people aren't "normal." They're a nuisance and probably crazy - if we're not careful, they might mug us! They make us feel uncomfortable. We recoil in disgust, make jokes, or, at the very least, step out of the potential offender's path, hoping they won't single us out and make us feel even more uncomfortable.

The truth is, the majority of people living on the streets are not going home to some fancy high rise in the Gold Coast at the end of the day. If they do have a home at all, it's much more likely to be located in a filthy, seedy part of town.

Body odor? Have you offered to give a homeless person a small care package that includes deodorant or toothpaste? Did you know that there virtually is no place for these people to go to the bathroom during the day? They're run out of restaurants, convenience stores, hotel lobbies, the train station... where exactly are they supposed to go? They try to hold it as long as they can until they can find a bathroom. They don't always make it. The end result is dehumanizing. They're devastated but to cry in front of you, in front of me... in front of anyone is the ultimate humiliation. Instead they shuffle along through the night, hoping they won't be harassed by drunk partiers out for the weekend, hoping to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures, trying desperately to stay sane in their present situation that, let's face it, is truly crazy-making.

I want to introduce you to some friends of mine. They're some of the street people of Chicago, Illinois. You need to know them. They're people. They matter to someone. They most certainly matter to me. And I hope, once you've met them, they'll matter to you, too.