Roofless Extract © Dominique De-Light 2007
The pen is
mightier than the sword. The computer is greater than the gun. I am a writer who believes in the power
of words. The power to change minds, ideas and world politics. I run writing
groups to enable people - usually homeless, mentally ill, ex-prisoners and
those with drug and alcohol problems - to express themselves. To find their
voice through the written word. To process demons and find angels.
Every one of us wants to be heard.
Every one wants respect and many these days want fame. But what is fame except
the search for recognition? In this increasingly individualistic world where we
communicate via text on a computer or mobile screen, fame is increasingly
sought as a way to acknowledge our individuality, our specialness.
The written world unleashes our
individuality. It gives us a voice. A means to make our mark on the world. Who
needs fame when you can have a blog? Writing can process anger, record
happiness, be a personal therapist, a creative muse, a life saver.
This
blog is a record of discussions held in the Write for Life course at QueenSpark
Books � a writing group for homeless and ex homeless writers. Everything that
is written here has been approved by them. It is a record of how words have the
power to change lives.
In
this group of homeless or ex homeless writers everyone talked of respect,
caring for others and trying to minimize harm. It is a bitter irony that
society often treats these people with the very opposite - no respect, little
care and as a result does much damage to individuals who have already been
through life's mill. Homeless people are demonised, stigmatised and seen as the
bottom of the social heap, maybe if they were treated with a little more
respect and a lot more humanity, society would be half way to solving the
problem of people living on the street.
Research
has shown that writing can help your mental health. Writing about trauma can
strengthen your immune system, reduce visits to the doctor and provide you with
your own personal therapy. So, for all the health problems these writers have
been through, they have all got the tools to heal themselves: a pen and paper.
The ability to express oneself is a life saving tool. And as one writer said,
"by sharing work and getting feedback from those who understand, my health
is improving." Which gives the course title 'Write for Life' a whole
different slant.
The following is taken from a blog I wrote
whilst I was facilitator of the Write for Life group. I have done my best to accurately reflect the
views of all the participants. All text in italics is direct quotation from
group members.
Write For Life
Group
No privacy, no place of safety, no roof
- homeless.
Drug addicts, no
hopers, alcoholics, buskers, dirty,
squatters, worthless,
free loaders, beggars, illiterates.
They are
powerless.
They are
ruled by the whims of others.
They trust
no one.
They are
demonised and stereotyped by the media.
They have
all lost something � whether it is a job, a family or a lover.
They are
grieving.
Addicted to
drugs, alcohol or shop lifting.
Suffering
from poor health � whether from sleeping rough or through grief.
Dirty.
Always dirty. That�s what forces you to use the services, the need to be clean.
There are many in the group who feel
they have been one or all of those things at some time, but it didn't explain
the people sitting in front of me. I asked for some positives
free
spirits, creative and survivalists.
Writing helps - it gives people a
chance to explore their experiences and balance the unique, the individual,
against the stereotype; the reality behind the assumptions.
Is there a
homeless community?
Community evolves, no amount of good
intentions can bring it into existence and it isn�t something that can be
created by the services. Homeless people meet when they attend Day Centres or
use other services, but there are no such things as a �First Base Crowd� or the
�Addaction folk.� People go to the services for what they can offer. If they
didn�t need them, they wouldn�t go. And then there are always the
self-excluders � those who trust no-one, who don�t want to engage with others,
whether peers or professionals.
The homeless are a
community of people that are all out for themselves.
This may seem cynical, but it could
also be said of society as a whole. One writer countered that selfishness is
not a defining quality of the homeless community. In his case, without the
support of other homeless people, people who had given him food, clothes, even
drugs, he would never have survived the streets.
Homeless
people help each other
- though that
help, as in the gift of the one drink that tips you over the edge, can end up
being destructive.
The writers agreed that, whilst there
is no happy family of homeless folk, there are times, especially amongst
the many small groups created by shared
experiences, sofa surfing, drugs of choice, when homeless people do work as a
true community.
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