Life’s a funny thing, really. It all depends on whose perspective one chooses to look upon it. As if yesterday, my biggest problem was to find a dress to wear to my friend’s birthday, and Loco’s was to sleep with a full stomach and a roof to cover his head. As I held my new beautiful dress on one hand, I had a clipboard full of questions in the other. Looking through the perspective of a man that lives for nothing has truly opened my eyes to what really matters in this world. Most of the time, I take my basic needs for granted, other times I feel unsatisfied with what I might or might not have. Happiness is what makes a person feel complete, and freedom is a massive proportion to it. Aside from begging for food and money for a living, and calling a vacant area under a bridge “home,” 33 year old homeless man named Loco lives his life with no expectations, no hero, and fears about not finding himself. Could anyone really relate to a homeless man’s lifestyle?
While I sit in my warm chair in my heated house, Loco and his wife are probably bundled up together under a bridge with their two cats, which Loco considers to be his best friends. I was always curious to interview people completely different than me and as I did, I felt my trembling hand as I wrote some of the answers I was receiving. Loco quotes “Life’s a joke.” Attempting to take a look through Loco’s glasses for a moment, I see that everyday is basically the same, irrelevant to the weather. Living life with no apprehension could indeed lead someone into loosing ambition or pride towards him or herself. Analyzing to himself, Loco easily concluded one phrase that mostly described him was a mess-up, which isn’t something I hear very often.
As a child, and even to this day, my motivation and heroes are my family. They always boost me up when I’m down, and lift me high up when I need that extra support. It took him a few seconds to think back and really find his hero, but as I asked Loco and waited for his response, I put myself in his shoes. What I thought about was that if he did in fact, have a motivation that carried him out through his life, he could have been in a better position. He said he never really looked up to anyone, which caught me sort of off-guard, considering all the people in this world who have accomplished so much that he could look up to. Perhaps he lost himself at a younger age, and never really bothered to find himself. He said something that I didn’t quite expect; his greatest achievement was raising his daughter, whom I suspect he loves extravagantly. Although Loco may not have what one calls a modern day “hero,” he does, in fact live a care-free life, which may or may not be rewarding.
Above all, what does one truly live for? Could it be money, a true love (companion), a sport, a friend, simple freedom and happiness, or in Loco’s case, finding himself? One may fear of spiders, or a test, or even a cruel teacher. With all things considered with Loco’s life, his major fear is finding who he is, and the clues that lead up the big finale may not always be pleasant. It’s not an easy concept to grasp; however, when one figures it out, it is a magnificent accomplishment. Upon a great deal of dreadful experiences that one comes across in a lifetime, it only makes a person one step closer to discovering or creating themselves. It only took me about twenty minutes to interview Loco, and that was all I needed to realize the position he must be in. One needs improvement to keep going, but maybe Loco hasn’t seen or felt improvement in such a long time, he might have forgotten the remarkable feeling one gets while accomplishing something. He basically does not take life seriously, which could be difficult at times.
One would think that with this many people breathing the same air as everyone in the world, people are bound to have things in common for the most part. Fortunately, everyone is different from each other which make life even more worth living for, because we all learn from each other’s lifestyles. What I learned from Loco was not just one thing, but that life in general may or may not always have a purpose, but one should always be open to suggestions. According to him, one does not need to have any expectations, or a hero to keep on going, just happiness in general should do the trick. It is utterly hard to change a person, however, in the meantime I could have a share to contribute on a monthly basis to help those less fortunate. It’s so amazing how Loco lives for absolutely nothing, but that means he has absolutely nothing to lose, right?