10-3-10

It's intriguing the things we hold on to that give us hope. We get easily distracted from the real issues because there are other things that tell us that everything is going to be alright. I've been renovating rooms for a society that provides housing for hard to house people. They can seem a hopeless bunch sometimes but they are people, with insecurities and fears, and they hold on to things that I could never pretend to understand, things that make them feel safe whether it be crack or heroin or a cheap plastic Rosary. It's not so dissimilar to the rest of us, not dealing with the important things the way they should be dealt with because somewhere in there we find little signs that things are going to be alright. It's a temporary solution and eventually you're faced with the fact that you need to change things yourself if they are, indeed, going to get better.

It's times like this that the false hopes get left behind, cast aside, left on the floor of the last place that offered you shelter as you move on to the next place. These rooms I'm renovating, the tenants have moved to a new facility, one that promises to facilitate a healthier lifestyle. It's modern and clean and has stricter lifestyle policies. Is it just another plastic Rosary? Or is it the solution? I'm not sure but it's important to realize what approaches merely mask the symptoms and what ones actually facilitate a cure. And if you don't find the cure all those good feelings you get while you mask the symptoms, well, they fade and are missed and the problems are still there waiting for you. That's not good.