Homeless bound

I had no idea on how homelessness was so close to home. I've lived in Granada Hills for almost seven years now, and drove almost daily through the busy shopping center on the Northeast corner of Balboa and San Fernando Mission Boulevards. Right in between the Jack in the Box and behind the Trader Joe's store there is an island, full of bushes. The bushes were full and quite tall, and used to be the home of some people. Yet, most of Granada Hills residents were not aware of that, and so was I.










The first time I noticed this was when I opened my Aikido school, on San Fernando Mission, and started walking to my bank across the street. As I was passing by, I heard people talking, and then saw a few chairs in between the bushes, with people on them, talking and drinking. The next time, one early morning, I noticed the sleeping bags, and even a mattress. I started seeing them walking around; we would greet each other and exchange some words. They would check out the progress on our Dojo construction, and share their opinions. One of them insisted he will bring us business, by sending his six daughters to classes.

I already got to accept my little discovery as a permanent element of the Dojo's environment, and was taking the interaction with them as opportunities to sharpen my practice of compassion and acceptance. Saying Hi every time I passed by the bushes, and exchanging smiles.









Yesterday morning I was surprised to see that all the bushes got trimmed back, exposing a naked view of the few belongings and raw lifestyle. The mattress, plastic bags, and trash, were quickly collected into a pile, and then thrown into a big garbage truck, and disappeared. The last signs of life of the bush people colony, is now a simple parking lot island, with some trimmed bushes on it.

Now I can't decide which one I like better...

Trading places

For many years I was driving past homeless people, standing at the freeway off ramp, and just felt sorry for them. From time to time I would give them a dollar or some change, moving on without a second thought. Years past and I watched a documentary called Skid Row. It was filmed, mostly with a hidden camera at Skid Row, where 80,000 homeless people live in downtown Los Angeles. The movie captured the daily life and stories; some which are core shaking. Watching the movie generated many thoughts about how I would feel, if I were to live there, dealing with the poverty and crime, and living in such fragility and vulnerability. Since then I started feeling much more compassion and consideration to the situations and conditions these human beings face, right here, in our city, as well as in many places all around the world.




I guess that in my case I changed my opinion by reflecting, and seeing myself in a similar situation. Being considerate takes us into someone else's realm, puts us into their shoes and helps us feel what they feel, like an imaginary "switcheroo". It is a powerful tool for life, and a great practice to develop a loving and open heart. It may be used in different cases; with a group or an individual, whether it is with someone close to our hearts, or a stranger, an animal or someone's living space. Consideration is an ability to look through someone else's eyes, developing sensitivity and carefulness.

This can be practiced in Aikido daily training. One can be Nage (the person who apply the technique) without much consideration to Uke (the person who is taking the technique). The encounter may go smoothly, and the technique will be performed — yet, the more sensitivity and awareness we practice with our partner will enable us to have better "blending" in our encounter. An Uke, on the other hand, that chooses to be participating actively, with true intention of attack, and that trains with awareness to Nage, becomes a responsible part of the outcome of the encounter - staying connected and looking for openings throughout the technique. So, in our training we can trade places, not just physically, but in our awareness as well. This provides many opportunities to deepen our study about techniques, timing, distance and positioning, while observing from the different sides, and from various angles.

Trading places teaches us about others and our environment, perserves our minds' flexibility and clarity, while keeping our hearts filled of compassion and understanding.