Facing Your Circumstances With Gratitude, Courage, Grace, and Dignity
Meet Beth, A Woman Living Full Time In Her Chevy Equinox
It was the last thing I expected.
About a month ago, as the year had turned, and the screeching, harsh feedback of post-election political dissonance was ramping up, a stark reminder of one of my greatest fears suddenly reared its head, brought to me courtesy of one of the many millennial-aged podcasters I find myself listening to.
As a boomer on a fixed income, and having been homeless myself for a time in the 80’s, (largely due to some bad decisions on my part) I keep a roof over my head through the generosity and blessing of affordable rent, which, it seems, is a luxury that has disappeared for millions of people.
To quote Jack:
“The cost of living has impacted every Generation. A lot of older people "boomers " are forced into van life or lving in there car. Most people are totally over the old way of living. There is no more middle class. Every thing has been gentrified from housing , cars People not being able to find a decent paying job and the cost to live is getting way out of hand . Gen Z and Millennials No Long Want to work towards nothing. Youtuber @bethcloudsandsky go show her some love”.
In my experience, I‘ve found millennials and younger generations to be far more intelligent, realistic, truthful, and open-minded than people of my generation, they see through and call out the smokescreens of political and economic propaganda relayed by traditional legacy media, so favored by people from my generation, who seem to have meekly accepted our societal decline.
One thing is for certain.
We are so lost in these illusory political rivalries, wars for profit and resources, competition as a motivation, and fake political alliances, that we have lost touch with our humanity.
Indeed as Jack stated above, people across all generations have tapped into a sort of spiritual consensus of collective awareness that the old way of living, where profit is the primary motivation, where your neighbor is your competitor, and where human life and worth are trivial afterthoughts is not sustainable.
Once I “met” Beth, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of her and send her my good thoughts.
Perhaps it’s best to let Beth tell her story in her own words, but her story has the same set of circumstances many boomers and even younger generations are dealing with: people forced out of affording what should be, in a just society, minimal standards, an affordable roof over their heads, medical care, and enough food to sustain their health.
Just in the resonance of her voice and her choice of words, Beth reflects the best traits of what humanity can be: personal responsibility, REAL rugged individualism, gratitude, thanks, kindness, gentleness, and a rare unembittered take on her circumstances that most of us couldn’t imagine if we were in similar circumstances.
Just yesterday, I ran into my musician friend Jimmy,(not his real name) who I had not seen in years, staring at the electronics and SUV accessories in Harbor Freight.
I asked how he was, and jokingly asked why he wasn’t shopping for musical instruments, and he told me in a quiet, serious tone that he was equipping his van with a power inverter just as Beth is describing above.
Without him saying so I quickly surmised Jimmy was living in his van, at least primarily.
The thing that both Beth and my friend Jimmy have in common is that neither of them are charity cases, and as Beth frequently mentions, donations are appreciated but not required.
If you want to help her along in this journey, go to her Clouds and Sky link here on YouTube.
Thanks to Beth, I have been reminded of my own heart, and my own humanity as a conscious feeling state which is hard to describe in words alone.
If nothing else, if you feel moved to do so, just show Beth some love and check in on her from time to time.
Personally, I feel privileged and grateful to have met her.
Maybe you will too.
I live full time in my Chevy Equinox. I plan to post videos at least twice a week. Thank you to everyone watching my videos! I appreciate you all very much. There is never any obligation to donate!I appreciate all of your encouragement and support. If you would like to support me further you can use the link to buy me a coffee. Thank you! You can contact me at:,
bethcloudsandsky@gmail.com
Links
Buy Me a Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/bethcloudsandsky