And the journey begins…

We too often become caught up in the motions and dramas of our daily lives.

The microcosm we call life includes friends, family, (home) work, and more. I’m guilty of allowing this bubble to limit my sight and amplify any immediate problems or conflicts. You might think that living in a such a huge city like Chicago, it’s easier to see the bigger picture of society. I found that it, in a way, does the opposite.

With so many distractions, you’re forced to put on blinders and focus on where you’re going and what you’re doing. It personally doesn’t help that I live on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. There’s no shortage of million dollar homes, Land Rovers, or specialty cupcake shops.

My philosophical rant has a POINT.

In the spring I applied to join a group of fellow DePaul students for a week-long service immersion trip to Los Angeles, CA; particularly the Skid Row area of downtown LA. I was inspired by some friends who had went on this trip last winter break and their photos gave me a little context. I still didn’t really know exactly what I was about to experience. The purpose of this trip was to learn about all aspects of homelessness, listen to and share the stories of people we met, and bring change back home to Chicago.

It was a personal challenge for two reasons. First, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and learn about something that I had never given a lot of thought. Second, this was a way for me to live simply as a Vincentian In Action (VIA) and contribute to the larger community, reaching out of my Lincoln Park bubble.

The posts to follow are based on my hand written journal entries I wrote while in LA. Unless you have had the opportunity to go on such a trip, you really cannot understand it completely. I’ll try my best to give insight into this service immersion. Sometimes, though, words just can’t describe what impacted and challenged my view of the world.