Did You Ever Go Hungry?

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Were you ever homeless?

Have been hungry and homeless.

I really don't ever want to be again it is sooo stressful

I was close to being homeless numerous times. Was hungry a few times. It is stressful and also an affront on the psyche. Much betrayal by society.

Homeless twice, in 1990 and 1998

Hungry at two periods : 1990 ( when homeless and penniless) and in 1963, for hours between feeds . Apparently human baby if held so can feed when needs to will suckle as often as every 20 minutes. A mother I knew ( when I was suffering from sleepless nights cos my baby had learned that it got fed more promptly at night than in the day ! !) had peaceful nights from the start because she fed her child when ever it wanted , which was as often as 15 times a day.

Hungry? YES!
Homeless? NO!

Never been homeless, though I've stayed in hostels and low-to-no-cost housing. Have been hungry many times during my life. I once cirlced a block three times eyeing off the pickles someone had left in a McDonalds wrapper on a bench... When I finally decided I was hungry enough to eat it, the pickles had gone - someone else had eaten them right out of the wrapper, that was still there.

Dumpster diving. That was great. Some of the best produce i ever ate was through the good ol tossaways.

Motorway service-station bins in the picnic areas in the holiday season!!

Can't say that I have.

Tim

I can believe that for many homeless who rely on others donations for money for food to eat or on their own searchings in bins etc it is strangely comforting , to be in a position so like that of babyhood, of waiting for someone to give them food ( or the money for food) , the very hunger will be psychologically restful/familiar. It means that they are babies again who can't even get their own food, but are dependent on others. I know that my own experience of being homeless and penniless , and consequently often very hungry , (to point of thinking wouldn't be able to get up from where I'd slept for night on one occasion) dependent on handouts in bakers , or of food from bins , was strangely .....wonderful.

It hadn't occurred to me before ( i had wondered whether weird states were result of eating almost exclusively wheat , old bread, etc in between periods of fasting, and the effect on my gluten intolerance ) but I think it did somehow make me feel safe. Because for many in our culture, despite the movement towards feeding babies on demand etc, our biggest experience of hunger is when baby. Those infinite waits between feeds , of hours . After 9 months in the womb where feeding was constant, through the blood. And when it is known that babies will, if they are free to, suckle every 20 minutes , or 10-15 times a day , the pathetic 4 or 5 or perhaps 6 feeds with which they are supposed to content themselves according to accepted child-care principles, will by definition mean HUNGER. Hunger , and passive waiting, because soon learn that crying doesn't change much .

I think that this perception of *handouts* being a negative aspect of humanity needs to eradicated and removed from consciousness. In societies there will always be poor people. That's by design! That is so the opporutinity for charity can be established. Otherwise there wouldn't be a need for compassion! To feed another human being is a beautiful thing. It's a holy act. It's being God-like and it sends vibes of love ricocheting in bliss all over the universe. Some poor people know this consciousnessly or unconsciously and surrender their possessions and worldly goods so that this channel of giving remains open. And you know what? There is nothing wrong with it, other than the connotations via commentary offered by people that are *bothered* by the sights and feelings it arouses in them. Isn't that why Xmas was invented? To assuage all guilt from the stingy and cold-hearted bastards of the world? Well, anyway - poor people have to eat 7 days a week, 3 times a day - that's a whole lot of giving opportunity for a whole lot of people.

i've been homeless and hungry, homeless and not hungry, hungry but not homeless, and not homeless, not hungry.

i've found that, to me, hunger often is a more pleasant feeling than when i stuff my face... and it is far less stressful to be homeless than it is to actually attempt domestic life. although domestication has it's benefits. still, if i had no kids, i'd travel far more often, and would have much different goals in life.

Well, certainly Tibetan monks seem to believe there is something holy about relying on the universe to feed one.
But in my case it was as if I'd finally found something I was good at , because it was what I learned to do in babyhood ; wait for the handout, rather than what a babe-in-arms learns; how to already actively seek for food, reach for the breast , that it can smell and feel near its head , to satisfy itself in relationship of negotiation with another etc. Autonomy.

Though actually the foraging in bins struck me as being like an urban version of hunter-gathering and not at all passive. Quite enjoyed that too. AND it didn't involve asking anyone for anything. The begging in bakers was much harder. Though some glorious experiences there too. Of the unexpected and beautiful generosity of some people.

Yes, when I first was a student. sometimes I would literally starve
I

Don't you know that as much as the baby derives from the mother, the mother too derives from the child?