An Old Essay I Wrote While Living in the SF Bay Area

Spined Portal

Life isn't fair, but, at the same time, the fact that our lives are not simple and easy, is a form of fairness in and of it's self.

People in general, however, don't tend to see this. We tend to candy-coat things, masking life for what it really is from our children. Those children grow old, mature, and embark upon a society that they are not really prepared for. Some of them do well enough, others fail. And whilst failing, and falling, they strike out around themselves seeking another to blame. Such efforts, however, shall find no target, as there is none to blame. None shal step forward, since there is no-one to blame but ourselves. All this I get from peering at a photograph I made whilst touring the streets of San Francisco's Civic Center.

             

Perhaps when you first see this picture you won't think much of it. You only see a window, and it's partnered wall, with brass adornments. But take a closer look. The adornments are in fact a series of spikes. Why are such things on a windows' sill? It it to keep people away. A certain kind of people. People who have nowhere else to go, nowhere to keep warm, and to feel safe. I have often thought on this problem. Such a thing as this, it doesn't just plague our own society, but that of many others as well. It is worldwide. Other people often think that it is our governing body's responsibility to help out those of us who are homeless, that it is society that is to blame. Surely, it's someone else's fault. I had though like that before. I stopped, however, for I thought it useless. Those people, they are ourselves. Our problems are essentially that same, in the mental aspect. We like to blame others for our various anguishes.

             

Even though the very fact that we are seeking answers is a positive direction, the conclusion that is often arrived at is ultimately unhealthy. The fact is, there is no-one to blame but ourselves. We are the government. We are all this nation, and the homeless masses are also a reflection of self. We need to let our children know about the realities of life. About the grim, as well as the brisk. This window with the spiked sill represents to me an unbalanced view on life.