I am writing this daily blog to help process my emotions about my family and I being homeless as well as hopefully take the lessons from this experience. And if I help someone along the way, that will make me very happy.
I read a BBC report yesterday about homelessness amongst women, how it is often hugely under-reported and how women don’t access the services that are available to them. That whilst men tend to be ‘seen’ as being homeless because they pitch up in tents and with sleeping bags on the streets, it is quite simply too dangerous for women to do so. Consequently, they either walk the streets all night, too scared to settle anywhere, or the sleep on buses, in railway stations, or in hospitals. Anywhere where there are lots of other people to provide them with some safety from physical abuse. And that women tend to access the services available to them far less than men. As a result, the true number of homeless women is unknown.
And it made me think…to stop feeling sorry for myself. Of how lucky I am that I don’t have to seek out safe places because I am already in one. That I am not walking the streets in an attempt to keep away from physical abuse. That I am not homeless in the first place because of physical abuse the way many of the women are. Yes, things are challenging for me right now but I am coming at this from an incredibly privileged position because I do currently have somewhere to stay. And I will turn my future around, I had lots of ideas of how to do that in the night.
I then saw on LinkedIn that same report reposted by someone who ran a charity in Cambridge that helps homeless people and who are participating in the research being undertaken. And I realised it was a synchronicity – there are no coincidences in this world, especially when you’re not connected to that person. So, I have reached out to her and explained my position and asking if there is any way in which I can help. I have no idea what that might look like, but if I can do something then perhaps this experience I am having is something that can help someone worse off than me. Then it won’t have been for no reason, will it? Then it can be used to help someone, and I can’t think of anything better than that, frankly. The lady I connected with called me courageous – I’m anything but, but I am thankful she has responded and wants to chat.
I also bumped into someone I know in our local Co-Op shop who told me she has started reading the first book of my trilogy. I couldn’t be happier that she is but also her feedback was immense. She totally gets what I was trying to say, she is so invested in the characters and she says it is making her ask questions about her own life. I didn’t entirely intend for people to do that when they read my book, but I also didn’t not want them to. I have heard that feedback from others as well, that it’s an uncomfortable read as a result but one people have loved. Oh my God, did this buoy me yesterday! That someone is reading it, is ‘getting’ it, and is loving it was just wonderful. And it has spurred me on for my next book, given me a sense of direction for it that I have been looking for. As well as given me some ideas about what to say in the marketing. Because in a weird way, it’s a self-help book as well as a novel.
So, what started out as a totally rubbish day ended up not being too bad at all. I am more grateful for what I have given how much other women don’t have. I hope to have an opportunity to help those women in the future using this experience. And, I had some fabulous feedback on my writing that has spurred me on for my future writing. How can any of that be bad?
I am soaring. I am thriving. I am successful. I am grateful.
Louisa Simpson 