Looking to better himself and get clean, he made the move from Atlanta, Georgia to Nashville, Tennessee to enter rehab. 13 Years after making that move, he is still clean and sober today.
After finishing rehab in 2007, a Nashville business owner who believed in him offered not only a job, but also an apartment. The apartment was on Second Avenue over retail space and a restaurant below.
“You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants a magical solution to their problem, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.” - Alice in Wonderland
Over the Years
Some of the people I see on the streets of Nashville - I have seen year after year. It is interesting how time slips their mind, sadly.
Asking how long she has been on the streets she replied, “About two years.”
Looking back, the first photo I took of her on the street was around 5 years prior near Centennial Park. This most recent picture was captured near the hospital district of downtown.
At age 64 she has never found that one time love of her life that makes you feel like dancing in the rain. She has never been married and has never had children. She simply survives while fighting diabetes.
Sept. 2014
“I’ve dreamed a lot. I’m tired now from dreaming but not tired of dreaming. No one tires of dreaming, because to dream is to forget, and forgetting does not weigh on us, it is a dreamless sleep throughout which we remain awake. In dreams I have achieved everything.” ― Fernando Pessoa
Dec. 2016
WHY? Life on the Streets for Many
Today, by the time a child is a senior in high school, 70% have already tried alcohol. 50% will have tried some type of an illegal drug. 40% have smoked tobacco or used a nicotine product. 20% of children will have used a prescription drug for a nonprescription use. Despite these numbers, we look at the broken who live on the street with discourse in thinking, "They choose their addiction which landed them on the street." The relation to childhood drug or alcohol use to adult addiction is overwhelming.
The environment around a teen greatly impacts teenagers choosing to experiment with drugs or alcohol. Violence, physical abuse, sex abuse, emotional abuse all play a role in the temptation of alcohol and drug use. Personality traits such as ADD and ADHD also increase the likelihood of a child trying something that will have a negative impact on them.
If a child experiences trauma at a young age and / or becomes addicted to drugs or alcohol, it will change the growth pattern of the prefrontal cortex. That said, the impact will last a life time. Addiction can soon set in and life is forever changed.
The other side of addiction:
On top of the above information, addiction equals a lack of human “meaningful” interaction. In other words, the addicted may interact with other users, but at a very surface level while clean or sober.
Furthermore, the addicted man or woman who lives on the street usually has zero healthy relationships nor knows how to form one while addicted.
So, could adult addiction be a combination of child trauma, lack of relationship? My thought would be yes.
Why? The damaged prefrontal cortex, that was damaged in childhood, is the planning region of the brain. It is where personality and expression originate from. Most importantly for continued use of negative behaviors, the prefrontal area is where decision making takes place along with moderating social behavior.
Knowing how sections of the brain function further verifies that addiction and lack of social interaction and healthy relationships go hand in hand. Especially when you dive into damage to the brain caused by childhood trauma followed by alcohol or drug use.
Many on the street do not know how to have positive connections with other human life. More so, their brain does not know how to cope with life without medicated help. The addicted brain related to childhood trauma does not know how to navigate behavior and life.
Of course, it is much deeper than my above words once you mix in mental illness and depression. That is an entire book on information.
The Massive Zigzag
The road was built in 1922 at the suggestion of original property owner Carl Henry. Today, the road sees about 2,630 vehicles per day, mostly by motorist just curious about the awkward brick path.
Read MoreLife on the Street
Dave Walker lives in his van in Murfreesboro, TN near Nashville. In this 10 minute he talks about some of the things he has seen or heard in the past 8 months.
Read MoreHate dressed as Love
Sometimes, hate tries to be disguised as love while holding a megaphone and wearing a "Jesus Saves" shirt.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Raining in the streets
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
Quiet Midnight Street
On a quiet midnight street.
"I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I wanna reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name"
- U2, 1987
Looking at what most refuse to see
Everyone passed her by, most refusing to make eye contact. “Sir, have you got a cigarette,” she asked one man as he shook his head and continued. “Ma’am, do you have a smoke,” she asked a woman who refused to even acknowledge someone spoke to her. Never asking for money, she only wanted to continue her love affair with nicotine.
“We lived in Las Vegas back in 1978 and left… but we came back in the mid 90’s,” she told me while sitting in her husband’s wheelchair. “This is his,” she explained while pointing to a man sitting upright against a trash can. The woman then stated, “He has no legs – lost them both due to cardiovascular disease.”
I asked her what the dried blood on her forehead was from. “I tripped and fell, busted my head wide open. No one helped me, but the paramedics,” as she went into detail she talked about the ten stitches under her cap and how she spent 15 hours in the hospital.
Why do so many turn away from unpleasant, sad or dirty? Why do some refuse to take it all in as an effort to learn what others go through? Why does a mother or father not stop and talk when being spoken to as a way to teach a child courtesy should be offered to everyone until proven wrong. Then, perhaps courtesy should be offered again and even again.
“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” ― Stephen R. Covey (1932-2012). Dr. Covey died 5.5 hours away from where this woman sat quietly on the streets of Las Vegas. It was a bicycle accident that took the life of Dr. Covey at the age of 80 in Provo, Utah.
Stay true to yourself
His words… “Stay true to yourself and don’t bend to other people.” He has done both, once the later in the past, but now only the first... at age 47 today.
Don’t allow others to lead you in a direction that your heart tells you otherwise. Be honest with yourself and your desires in life. Communicate what you feel wholeheartedly.
Joan of Arc, who led the French Army at age 18 to victory over the English, once stated, “One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.”
Sadly, Joan was later captured after her victory and burned at the stake. The young heroine of France died at age 19.
A book about Jesus
I noticed this man sitting in front of the library reading a book. I was curious as to what he was reading. It is a book called "Luke's Story, Jesus Chronicles." I have always heard you can tell a lot about a person by what they read.
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