MA

I've always been something of a Japanophile. Things Japanese fascinate me. Last Christmas I bought a pair of Boken (Japanese Wooden Swords) for my cousin's sons, which, by the way, I'm ecstatic they still practice with!

But the single greatest thing my obsession has taught me is the concept of Ma. Empty Space. Lack of clutter. Less is More.

Pots are formed from clay,
though the space inside them is the essence of the pot.

There's this TV show about Hoarding with terrible scenes of cluttered spaces filled with useless items. Lucky them, they have space to put all their stuff. But imagine not having a place to keep all your crap! Having to tote it with you everywhere!

Hoarding is a big problem for a lot of homeless people. I've noted that Libby does it. Todd does it. And, durn it, this morning I noticed someone new who does it! It was horrific watching this poor woman who had accumulated far more crap than she could carry!

That which has no purpose, has no value.

Perhaps the whole notion of Hoarding one of the negative features of our American Culture. He who dies with the most toys: wins! The more stuff you have, the richer you are.

The Japanese see things much differently. Is it because space is at a premium in Japan? This was not always so, so I don't believe that explains it.

I noted recently in an email exchange that with the homeless: hints are useless. One must be perfectly clear. I, myself, appreciate clarity. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don't mince words. Fewer words have more value.

Harrison Ford once described the creative process in film making. He spoke of the exchange between himself and Tommy Lee Jones in the drainage pipe. “I didn't kill my wife!” Ford cried. “I don't care!” Lawman Tommy Lee replied! Ford had said in the interview that the exchange would have been a long dialogue, but that the creative team he participated with boiled it all the way down to those simple lines that were the essence of it. The exchange had clarity.

Ford understands why. Ernest Hemingway certainly did. The man laboured over how to structure a sentence with as few words as possible in the most descriptive fashion. His work is considered to be some of the finest writing there has ever been. It has clarity without an over abundance of superfluous words.

I believe, strongly, that these things are connected at the hip. People who are not hoarders are also the ones least likely to be long winded speakers.

A reader of this blog I met a few days ago at Tommie's found out that I'm a bit long winded... that fits. I had to force myself to learn to shed what I do not need. Or was it forced on me? But I believe myself to be proof that someone pre-disposed to hoarding can learn not to.

Part of being homeless (to those that are not substance abusers) is a learning process. Learning that less is more is one of those things the homeless must learn in order to survive long term.

Now, before I go on, I have to disclose that the majority of homeless hoarders I am personally familiar with are substance abusers. It might be methamphetamine or prescription drugs. However, I am familiar with a few that I do not believe to be on anything.

Either way, being homeless and a hoarder creates a huge burden for that homeless person. It's a burden that can create unnecessary anxiety as they struggle to deal with what they have. Those of you who are aware of this behaviour on the part any homeless person: you're doing nothing but helping if you at least point out what a problem it is, assuming that person can stop talking long enough to let you get a word in edgewise...