- Laura. - Hello.
We're live at the Farmers Market. (chuckles)
- [Man] Yes in Gainesville, Florida.
I've been looking for you.
I heard that you're still out there.
- Yeah. - We met for the first time
last year. (distant conversation)
- Yeah. - I love it
when I see friends like you
because your smile is just,
oh my gosh, amazing. - Thank you.
- But I hate that you're still homeless.
- Yeah
well let's say what I've been doin' lately,
since you saw me last year.
For the past winter now,
I have been doing some really really deep inner work.
'Cause I know that in order for
outer change to happen,
I'm tryin' to change my inner self,
change my beliefs. - Right.
- You know I always dig deeper, look to root cause,
why I'm in this situation,
why I'm addicted to the internet,
why I procrastinate.
So I'm workin' on
tryin' to heal my psychological issues.
And I'm takin' my time going about this.
- [Man] Right but you shouldn't be homeless.
- I know. (distant conversation)
In a way, it's kind of my accountability
'cause I tend to procrastinate.
I don't always have a lotta confidence.
But in spite of it all,
I'm working on it.
I'm working to overcome that,
overcome my fear of failure.
I'm working on that.
- [Man] Well you are linked to your first video below.
- Yeah. - You had
a really tough life, growing up--
- Yeah. - in New York,
- Yes. - a horrible childhood.
- Yeah. - And you're so happy.
I mean, and you sleep.
Where'd you sleep outside?
- Let's see.
I slept in a, behind on the porch last night,
business establishment porch. - Right yeah.
- I just camp wherever I lay my head.
- [Man] Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.
- I'm gettin' ready to go away again
to the mountains, to Asheville, North Carolina.
- Oh that's beautiful. - 'Cause it just gets
too hot here.
And the mosquitoes drive me nuts.
- [Man] It's a beautiful area.
Let me ask if you're gonna ride your bike cross country?
- Yeah. - That would be fun.
- Yeah. - That would totally be fun.
- Yes. - So I know,
I toured the local homeless services,
and I think they're doin' the best they can.
- Yeah. - But like any shelter,
I wouldn't sleep there.
- Dignity Village, GRACE Marketplace.
- Right yeah yeah. - Yeah.
- I'm not picking on them.
I'm saying most shelters
are horrible places. - Yeah.
- So you sleep outside. - Yeah.
- [Man] Oh my gosh, now how do you survive?
- Let's see.
I go to places to eat.
And I do volunteer work at Christian House
in exchange for eating.
And mostly because I just find something to do
besides just sitting behind the computer all the time.
And I did some service today.
And I feel content.
I feel good that I was able to help out.
I was able to do something else
besides be in the library all the time.
- [Man] So that's where you get on the internet?
- Yes at the library,
my drug of choice, which I'm tryin' to overcome.
- [Man] (chuckles) Yeah well,
I need help in that area too. - (laughs)
- [Man] So if people watching this, I mean even me.
I go through struggles that to me are a crisis.
- Yeah. - But they're nothing like
sleeping outside. - Yeah.
- [Man] What are your tips
for people going through crisis
to stay positive?
- I guess increase your spiritual growth.
- Okay. - That's number one.
(distant conversation) Number two,
believe that all may come to pass.
And believe that the best can happen.
And number three, just keep smiling.
- [Man] Just keep smiling.
And you have a great smile. - Thank you.
- [Man] You have totally a great smile.
I've been walkin' around
'cause who was that, Mama Jo is it?
- Yes. - Yeah she told me
you were here. - Yeah.
- [Man] And I've been tryin' to find you.
- Yeah. - And I'm so grateful
I saw you today.
But you're also journaling. - Yes.
- [Man] So how does journaling help you?
- It relaxes me.
It helps me to get my feelings out.
Yeah otherwise, I would be talking in my head.
So I write stuff about how I'm feeling,
whether I'm angry or feelin' happy
or grieving
sad
crying.
- [Man] Well you're not
the stereotypical homeless person.
Most of the public,
when they see homeless people
or that mental image in their mind--
- Yeah. - it's a helpless person sad.
- I was like that years ago. - You were?
- Yeah I always felt sorry for myself.
I was full of anger,
fear and sadness.
And I slowly, gradually overcame that
when I first became interested in spiritualizing,
being close to nature. - So and
that's how you did it was through a spiritual awakening.
- Yes. - Oh my gosh,
you're such an inspiration to me.
- Yeah. - You're such an inspiration.
What's ironic is,
you're inspired by another one of
the Invisible People videos, Amanda--
- Yeah. - under the bridge.
You thought she, you know, and she's great.
But you're the one that,
out of all the videos I look at,
that we've done.
And I see your smile.
And knowing what you went through as a child.
- Mm-hmm. - You're an inspiration.
- Oh thank you. (chuckles) - Oh my gosh.
- Thanks. - So how about
somethin' a little different?
'Cause a lot of homeless people do watch these videos.
- Yes. - What would you say
to another homeless person
on how to survive homelessness, the mental war?
- Yeah. - Because when I was homeless,
I mean I was beating myself up every day--
- Yeah. - for what.
I beat myself up every day as,
how did I get here,
and how am I gonna get outta here?
So what would you say to a homeless person?
- I would guess I would tell them,
look within yourself,
how you could get out of this situation.
And be more optimistic
because focusing on things that bother you all the time
is just gonna bring you down some more.
And from my experience, that's been the case.
So tryin' to look on the bright side,
look for the gifts that's in a challenging situation.
- [Man] That's sometimes tough
because you're facing survival.
- Yes. - You're looking
at that crisis.
I agree with you. - Yeah.
- [Man] But there's sometimes that
we're in so survival mode
that we're not able to see
our spiritual selves. - Yeah.
- Does that make sense? - Yes.
- [Man] Any tips for seeing past the crisis?
- I guess start with reading self-help books.
That is, if those who like to read,
just start with self-help books.
Because I spent many years reading self-help books
before I started reading spiritual books.
- Oh yeah. - And maybe
talk to a counselor or a caseworker
if you need emotional support.
Start from there. (distant conversation)
- [Man] You are so awesome.
Even though you're still homeless, but I'm like
jumpin' outta my skin that I ran into you.
- (chuckles) - Oh my gosh,
you are so awesome. - Thanks.
- [Man] If you had three wishes,
what would they be?
- Let's see.
I wish for abundance.
I wish for peace, inner peace and world peace as well
in the outer world.
And (blows with tongue)
I wish that people would find a way to heal their pain,
to overcome whatever challenges they're goin' through,
whether they're homeless or not.
- [Man] Awesome well thank you very much for talkin'.
- Thank you as well.
Have a good day video land. (chuckles)
(upbeat electronic music)