FYI: Life is full of interesting characters. Vanessa Auditore Human Behaviour & Wellbeing Specialist

There was a time when I would “hang out” and chat with the street kids of Kings Cross, the forgotten, lost, abandoned, confused kids who lived in squats, on the streets or up to 20 people crammed into a two bedroom apartment in the dingy back streets of Kings Cross
These kids of Kings Cross who rolled people in Springfield Avenues dark alleys, (this was a good location as it has many escape routes and people out on the town often would take the short cut from Victoria Avenue) for money or anything they could sell for money, even themselves when desperate to eat to clothe themselves to survive.I met a young woman.
Judgment has no home here as the old saying goes “walk a mile in my shoes”
This young woman had spent most of her life in and out of foster homes where the abuse was always constant it was just the faces that changed.
She shared with me her story of the last stint in woman’s prison and what she endured to stay alive.She knew who was who and how to fit in to maintain her place in the mix, where the rules were simple.
Stay alive
In the ‘burbs” life is very different because you never really know what lies behind the “face” that people show.
I have dedicated my life’s work to seeing the street in every person and accepting with compassion and grace the experience of the “burbs” that makes it more comfortable to live within.
Both are doing their best to survive their reality and do their best with what they have to create a life.
Life is full of interesting characters who all bring with them a history, beliefs and masks to protect themselves.
So what’s my point?
Take a moment to look behind the mask and appreciate the journey of the person within.
If you are ever in need of inspiration and hope take a walk in the shoes of the kids on the street.Vanessa Auditore