Becky Blanton: The year I was homeless

[SoCalDem]

You will enjoy this a LOT!

http://www.ted.com/talks/becky_blanton_the_year_i_was_homeless.html


About this talk

Becky Blanton planned to live in her van for a year and see the country, but when depression set in and her freelance job ended, her camping trip turned into homelessness. In this intimate talk, she describes her experience of becoming one of America's working homeless.
About Becky Blanton

Becky Blanton is a writer, photographer and former journalist who found herself homeless, but bounced back to tell her story and inspire others.



Why you should listen to her:

Primarily, Becky Blanton is a writer. She was a journalist for more than 22 years, working as a reporter, photojournalist and editor. Today, she is best known for her independent writing. Tim Russert selected her essay "The Monster," to be included in his last book, Wisdom of Our Fathers. On the heels of this success, Becky won a competition held by Dan Pink to come up with an additional lesson for his bestselling book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko. The prize was admission to TEDGlobal 2009, where she gave a talk on her personal journey through homelessness.

Blanton is now working on her first book, to be titled Staying Hungry, the Official Guide for Never Settling for What Life Puts on Your Plate, as well as a second about how her dog saved her life while she was homeless. The proceeds from the second book will be donated to The Humane Society. Blanton also continues to blog and post photos from her adventures at beckyblanton.com

"Becky Blanton is a prolific and seasoned freelance writer who broke all the rules of social media. "

[arcadian]

1. She wasn't homeless

She was "slumming" for material to write a book.

[la_chupa]

4. I agree there is a difference between being homeless and pretending to be homeless

I could tell you a real Christmas story about the year after I graduated from high school. I came down with mono and got fired from my shit job at a convenience store because of it. I ended up essentially stowing away on a college campus.

If you hide when they're locking up, you can generally stay all night inside a campus building. You can sneak into the locker room for showers, wash your clothes in the gym, and scrounge for food in faculty lounges and dorm kitchens - especially if you look like you belong there.

ah yes good memories and still nothing like what the chronically homeless face

Odd thing is, I ended up getting a math degree later from that very school. I wonder if my little nest I made in the ceiling over the physics library was ever found.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[arcadian]

9. In the very first sentence she said she planned on living out of her van for one year.

Nice mouth you got there by the way. :eyes:

[izquierdista]

11. I defer to your superior intelligence then

Since I can't match your ability to divine entire meanings from just the first sentence. :eyes:

[ensho]

2. there was a time when I lived in my van - a lot of people live in vans

if when I had some money I would go to a campground where each site had electricity.
don't knock it.

[SoCalDem]

3. did not "knock it".n/t

[ensho]

5. my post wasn't directed at you, just at the readers of this thread

nt

[SoCalDem]

6. Thanks

I was about to get a complex:rofl:

[ensho]

10. hugs and kisses

nt

[Warpy]

8. I hated it

Even though I had access to a shower, I just never felt clean. Also, the damned thing would heat up quickly in the morning, so I had to be up and around half an hour after sunrise. Alcohol stove cooking got old fast, so breakfast happened at 10 AM when a Chinese place opened early and offered leftovers cheap.

However, it was still better than my mercifully brief experience with homelessness.