Back

People can be rude about me living in the Tenderloin (if you search that term on YouTube you’ll think I live in a literal war zone), but it’s also here where I can walk to so many community events and live in a community.

There’s a Wednesday movement group in the ‘Tenderloin Forest’ and a spiritual group (used to be Christian but not anymore) group with Faithful Fools that I sometimes attend.

Having the spaces and infra to meet my neighbors, especially neighbors of many backgrounds, is so important.

I feel like I have way more ‘third space’ here.

I also get invited to sit down and chat with the Vietnamese restaurant ladies downstairs, and their parents, if I’m walking past at closing time. They close the doors and give me a cup of tea and sometimes we give each other fruit and snacks.

Going home to be alone in a nice home in a suburb feels antisocial and not something I want for myself. I love being in a community. It’s a practice and a way of life that I intend to keep cultivating.