I have much to muse about this Saturday morning, but I also have much to do. I’ll keep it kind of brief. This post is mostly for those of you who have been following my escapades here in LA.
A little over a week ago I was looking at losing my phone and internet service, and facing imminent repossession of my car. I was literally hours away from both, and I was sweating blood trying to figure out how to stall what seemed inevitable. I was looking at true homelessness… the real thing… with no apparent relief in sight. I was as close to total collapse, and panic, as I’ve ever been in my life.
Things can change fast. Now, a short week later, my bills are current, I’ve put down a deposit on an apartment, and I’m signing the lease and moving in on Tuesday. February and March will be a bit of a scramble yet, but by early April I’ll be in a position to live comfortably without immediate pressure to find a job for a month or two. I can work on these sites that I’ve been struggling to keep going but have had limited time for. I can even buy a new pair of shoes. The last few days have been a blur of activity — I feel like I just took a week-long ride on a Tilt-A-Whirl.
I just spent the last eight months homeless in LA, living in my car. It’s an experience I’m not likely to forget, nor do I want to. I got a street level view into the dark underbelly of our society in one of the world’s major cities. There have been heartwarming moments, but much of it is very disturbing. The real LA bears little resemblance to what you see on Hollywood Tonight.
I can put more time and effort into these blogs again. They need the attention, and I can work on some of the things I’ve wanted to do but haven’t been able to. I’m also going to start going through my notebooks and putting together a journal of my months as an LA homeless.
I haven’t photographed it much for various reasons, but I plan to keep prowling the streets and to put together a series of photos of what I’ve seen over the recent months. Life on the streets goes on for many people. I don’t like to intrude on the private hell so many are going through, but much of what is happening deserves to be seen.
I’ll probably do that with my phone, both to give the photos the gritty look the deserve, and simply to be less obvious and intrusive. Over the next weeks and months one of my projects will be to put it all together in a book, maybe an ebook or an actual Blurb hard copy book. Or maybe on a blog. A simple blog — no sidebars, no clutter, just a series of journal entries. Maybe I’ll do all of the above. We’ll see.
Anyway… so much for brevity. My next post will be done from the comfort of my own apartment with a cup of coffee in hand. Just like it used to be.
To those of you who have been following me here I’ll just say thanks, more than I can say, for your encouragement and support. The recovery is underway. Stay tuned.
pj
Congratulations on things moving in a positive direction, pj. Your own bed and shelter are taken for granted, but are really things to be valued and appreciated. Here’s hoping things continue on the upswing for you.
Thank you Steve.
keep the faith!
Always Ken. Got to…
That must have been quite an experience, PJ. I’m very relieved to hear that things are looking up. I’m sure what you went through will affect your thoughts and priorities in the years to come, and I look forward to your new posts.
Guy
Thank you Guy. I’m sure you’re right.
I’m sitting here thinking of a thoughtful response to your comment, but I don’t have any answers yet. Just a growing dissatisfaction with the work I’ve done up to this point, and a resolve to dig deeper, to get beyond surfaces and appearances.
I’m sure that doesn’t make much sense yet, but I’m also sure it will become more clear as I progress with my photography and writing. I appreciate your stopping by to comment and perhaps we’ll talk about this more as time passes.
It makes more sense than you know. Hang in there!
Guy
Glad things are looking up!
Thanks my friend. I’m a bit relieved myself…
PJ, congratulations. This is great news, and as I write this I know today is “moving day” for you…looking forward to the next chapter, as it were.
Thanks Greg.
Yep, I’m indoors again… seems strange, but I’ll get used to it.
Really glad to hear this, pj – I hope things continue on this upward trend for you!
– Jack
Thanks much Jack.
Wonderful news,Pj. I know you can make it work.
Sharon
Thanks Sharon. I’m still a little numb from the sudden change, but now that I’m actually situated I can concentrate fully on what I need to do. Onward and upward…
Good news! I’m really glad everything is going in the right direction for you pj.
Thanks Jeff. Things are looking good.
Glad you’ve landed safely on your feet. Looking forward to your new endeavor.
Greg….
Thanks Greg. Now I can concentrate on getting back to work on things.
pj, wonderful news and glad to see things working out. I think some type of photo journal of your experiences, a Montana perspective of homelessness in LA, would be an interesting and worthwhile work.
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Thanks Earl. I think it’s a worthy project. I need to take some time to sort it out in my own mind, but I also need to do it while the experience is still fresh.
All I can say is great for you PJ. I wouldn’t attempt to try to visualize what your past 8 months have been like. I hope you are able to draw upon some of it in the way you photograph. I am interested in learning how some of those images may relate to the experience you had.
Thanks Mark. It’s bound to have some effect, both on what I photograph and how I do it.
It hasn’t shown up much yet — I haven’t done anything new for quite a while, but even some of my more recent things are showing a bit of a harder edge to them. Understandable enough I guess. We’ll see where it goes from here.
What a cause for celebration. PJ is back in the game—full-time! Congratulations. I know you will find a way to use what you learned about life on the mean streets of LA (a car may be a step above living on the street; but, it can’t have been too far above) and what you learned about yourself to inform your work. Since you were strong enough to come out of that experience with your head high, you are sure to find expression for what you experienced.
Thanks Anita. When I came to LA a year ago I knew I might have to live in the car for awhile so I was prepared for it. I didn’t know the dry spell would last as long as it did, but I was ready for it and it wasn’t as bad as it might sound. Glad it’s behind me though…