Howdy!
For this weekly newsletter, I usually either explain the science of de-escalation or share a reflection on “trying to live a kind life in an oftentimes unkind world.”
Once a year, though, I take a moment to introduce myself to new readers.
So, here’s me…
The “career” stuff:
- I have mostly worked on homelessness. I started volunteering at a large homeless shelter outside of Chicago when I was 13. I started working there when I was 21 and became Executive Director when I was 26.
- In my 30’s, I tried to work on other issues for two years, but then came back to running the shelter. My “sabbatical” from homelessness involved a year working on human rights in African dictatorships and a year running a nonprofit law firm for immigrants in D.C.
- Now in my 40’s, I have been a full-time “homelessness educator” for three years.
The “family” stuff:
- I met my wife, Krissie, waiting tables at a pizza place during a summer break in college. She’s an 8-time cancer survivor which means: a) She is the bravest person I know and, b) She has the most intuitive sense of “life is short” of anyone I’ve ever met.
- Our children are in their 20’s. I’m still learning how to relate to them as “my children” but “not children.” Our son, Cameron, does sales for a tech startup. Our daughter, Hailey, just got married and works for me.
The “weird” stuff:
- I am the only lawyer I know with a 100% success rate in court. (Disclaimer: I have only done one trial (in law school) but I won!).
- I am obsessed with dinosaurs and fossils. For fun I read college textbooks on paleontology. (That might be the nerdiest sentence I have ever written.)
- When I travel, I wear a funny t-shirt. One of my tiny pleasures is watching an overworked TSA agent smile when they read “Does this shirt make me look bald?”
The “vulnerable” stuff:
- I get really bad seasonal affective disorder. It isn’t the worst mental health issue, but it does take a LOT of work to stay out of depression in the winter.
- I am really sensitive to criticism (especially in winter). Unfortunately, when you write a weekly email newsletter for 75,000 people, a tiny fraction of those people will be VERY cruel. I am slowly forcing myself to accept that the nasty comments are the unavoidable cost of trying to reach more people.
The “belief” stuff:
- I have spent most of my life in a love-hate relationship with organized religion. I have seen faith inspire people to selfless acts of courageous kindness. I have also seen faith used to justify inhuman cruelty and abject indifference. At this stage of my life, I mostly avoid dogma, but I can’t ignore that EVERY SINGLE TIME I have sat vigil with someone on the worst day of their life I have felt the overwhelming presence of something that cannot be explained without religious language.
- I genuinely believe that we can end homelessness. The phenomenon that we call “homelessness” has only been around for about four decades.
- I believe that most people are basically good, every single person is of incalculable worth and that life should be lived with a mixture of kindness and awe.
So, that’s me…
I hope you have a week mixed with kindness and awe,
Ryan
