Daydream Believer

Just a little news bulletin… for only the second time in our website history we had over 100 views of our blog page in one day. It is heartening to see interest in Angels of the Road growing, everyday. As I pointed out in “Do Ladybugs Tweet?” our role is to broaden understanding of homelessness and the shelter system; with the intention of creating better results and reducing shelter populations. It isn’t glamorous work but it is important if we are to have hope for any real change. Thank you all for sharing my journey.
I went to church this morning with my room-mate. We are both fairly new to the city so we just went to a neighbourhood “full gospel fellowship” called the Joshua Centre. As you know I like to check out area churches, I believe they are a reflection of the community as a whole.
The sermon today was about dreaming… the source of our dreams (aspirations)… how will they manifest… how much is within our control and how much do we have to release to another power. Using the old testament story about King David’s dream to build a great temple to the glory of God, which ultimately he was not allowed to build. After 30 years of work and preparation, the project was given over to his son Solomon to ultimately build. According to biblical reports David did not resent this loss… he just accepted God’s will.
The Minister asked us to share our dreams with the rest of the congregation. Being visitors at the Joshua Centre, I didn’t feel right sharing there. But I would like to share my dreams with you all, here, where we have shared so many experiences over the past couple of years. I began Angels of the Road with a fairly small dream, “Learn enough about the shelter experience to design better programs for my client friends at the D.I. (Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre)”. Also by sharing my journey, maybe we can build a bridge of understanding and acceptance; which could make our communities a little more comfortable to live in. Not a daunting task LOL.
As I started living with (connecting with) other population of homeless and street people, my dream grew. I began wanting to create a better model for all stakeholders in the shelter system all across Canada. A model which will maximize a client’s opportunities to move forward with their lives; while making more productive use of the current available funding levels. These are dreams for the community but I also have dreams for myself. I dream of finding a way of being able to continue doing free-style social work with street people. And maybe one day …”if the good lord willin’ and the criks don’t rise”, (as my granny would say) I dream of opening a Healing Centre in the mountains. Combining the principles of Outward Bound and Native Spiritual Traditions, to build the individual’s self-esteem and provide a spiritual anchor to keep them strong in their recovery.
The funny thing is… like David… I would not mind if someone else were to take up the completion of these dreams. If my name fades into obscurity that is of no matter to me. The only thing that matters is for these things to come into being. The healing centre, a more tolerant society, the better shelter system none of these dreams are about me… They are about us and what we can do to grow a better world, each pebble (act of caring) rippling through the universe.