I started this life journey on the street as a fetus. My mother was homeless. My childhood was spent with folks who were on and off the streets, folks of all degrees with their own internal struggles and substance use problems. When I tell people this they immediately try to sympathize. They aren’t sympathizing with details or events I’ve endured. I haven’t told them any. They sympathize with who I was raised by and that part bugs me. These people weren’t unkind, they weren’t dumb, they weren’t useless. These people were survivors of a difficult world in which we all try to find our way. And what I got from my time with them was nothing but independence, compassion, and exposure to the real world. Exposure to the diversity of people and the variety of situations in which people face every day.

 

I took this with me into my adult life and continued to stay close with these communities. Many of my friends fall under these umbrellas and I connect with them more than most. Clouded is a story that needs to be told so that people will understand that underneath the grittiness of what we see when we drive through impoverished neighbourhoods, are real people with real experiences and real personalities. This is a story about people, rather than events. People are the most interesting thing we have in this world and its time to pay attention.