Coming In From The Cold
On a regular basis, our organization partners with the city, the police, and other agencies to clear homeless encampments. When this occurs, we coordinate to make sure that enough shelter beds are available for those being cleared of the encampment.
The hidden secret, the elephant in the room that no one talks about, is that hardly any of the beds allocated for this are ever claimed by those emptied of the encampment. Frankly, they don’t want to come in from the cold.
For them as for many, there appears to be no room for who they are within the limited constructs of society. Rather then feeling shamed by comparison, they choose a different life, one on the margins, in the cold, but free of constraints.
Reminders of a Darker Past
Ken Follet is the author of the book, ‘Pillars of the Earth’ which takes place in early England. He describes so accurately how religion ruled the day and how misguided we were at the time with deeming any abnormal behavior of the age, as sin or a measure of insanity.
There were strict rules to society, based on fear of anything misunderstood by the majority. And while much of the land existing was owned by lords and the like, there was space and landscapes untouched and unhindered by the population. There was space for those shunned by society, to remove themselves and live life on the outside, undetected.
This is akin to the story of encampments of today. A society of people living outside the margins. Either forced or by choice, they live a life outside the scope of our current society and its constructs.
Are We There Yet – Much Work to be Done
It makes one think…are we there yet? Is the solution to continue to push those that exist outside the margins into the cold, or can we make space within ourselves and so within our society for all people on any spectrum of mental health to feel safe, valued, and come in from the cold?
The Need for Mental Health Advocacy
This I think, is what we mean by mental health advocacy. What we often don’t think about or better yet, what we don’t talk about, is that mental health is a spectrum. And every one of us is somewhere on that spectrum. Additionally, our place on that spectrum changes, it is not a fixed point.
Making Room for All – Making Room for You and Me
When we ask ourselves to make space for those on the margins, for those at the tipping points of the mental health spectrum, we are asking for there to be space provided for ourselves. Each and every one of us at some point, wishes to know that it’s okay to be in the struggle, and to know that each of us has space to come in from the cold.
Let us be the change we wish to see. We will do it for you and for me. Not alone but together as reflections of each other. Room for you and room for me. Amen.