I am that homeless man,

wandering from street to street.

My eyes are forlorn, sad, hopeless, I feel like crap, because people stare at me, they avoid my eyes, or they snicker at me.

I’m dirty and I’ve gone mad because flies are everywhere, my face is breaking out, and I don’t know where my next meal will come from.

I wanted to be a father once, I wanted to be good to my family, but I went out of control, gave into my alcohol obsession, my eyes became a blur and I felt f***cked up everyday. I hurt my wife, she had slashes across her face, her eyes, her soul.

It hurt to hurt my family, but now I am here, and no one cares.

I have no home.

These were my thoughts as I looked into the eye of a homeless man.

I am not that homeless man, but I know…that feeling.

If I didn’t shower for 10 days, I would already be mad. If one person looked at me with pity or condemnation, I’m already mad. Crazy. They say. I would feel the same, hopeless, without vision, without purpose, why should I live? No one cares, no one wants me, no one wants to be near me.

Yah, that homeless man you see, perhaps muttering to himself,

he was once a clean cut male, with maybe a family, a wife, children.

Perhaps, he was once an engineer, a business owner, a janitor, a policeman….or he never got there, never achieved his dreams.

But I hope, you will see a homeless person differently…because like any labels we put on someone- they are plainly human, just like you and I.

So don’t call them prostitute, rapist, drug addict, gang member, don’t call them delinquent, don’t call them criminals, don’t call them…

cuz they have a name. He or she, they have a name.

It’s time for us, the ones that have a vision, to touch lives by speaking into who PEOPLE REALLY ARE. We envision a brighter future for them by telling them who they really are, that they are loved and created for PURPOSE. That they were created for SOMETHING only THEY can do, NO one else can….because YOU are unique, like none other. There is NO ONE like you. 

I’m the one on the right, in the middle is Somaly Mam- my hero!

My partner in crime, in fighting human trafficking through the beauty/fashion sector.

Dengu Fever – A Cambodian singer

Far-Fetched Dreams, now only one step closer.

When I was young, I thought I was a nobody, unwanted.

But when I realized that I was loved and created for every single desire in my heart- I spoke and things happened.

Yesterday I went to Somaly Mam’s fundraiser- she is this amazing Cambodian Survivor of human trafficking, founder of an organization that has saved more than 5,000 girls from brothels in Cambodia….and she is now my hero because of her courage to love, even though she was never given the love that every girl deserves.

In her beautiful Cambodia garb, she talked about how her friend, sold for 5 years as a sex slave, was thrown on the street, beaten by men, dirty and with HIV. She stopped her car and picked her up, washed her clean, and loved her unconditionally. She said she would hold hands with her, they wouldn’t have to talk, but they would just know, the love that is there, unconditional love, the love of knowing heart to heart.

I think I must’ve teared up 5 times, especially when I heard this one girl was stabbed right in the eye with a knife by a pimp. I gasped and wanted to die.

Somaly Mam has given me the courage to fight and to give my life to every single girl that is abused in this world. I wrote her a letter after reading her book “The Road to Lost Innocence”, and gave her a book as well. Though, I don’t know if she’ll read it, I believe she knows how much she is respected for her courage to be a role model for all of us, despite everything she has been through.

Though my future seems uncertain to other people, I know where I’m headed, and it’s somewhere called freedom. Freedom for girls and boys to be their true selves, to love unconditionally and to be loved unconditionally.

Secret Recipes from My Mom

Taiwanese Fried Rice Noodle (Vermicelli)

Materials: Vermicelli, dried tiny shrimps, soy sauce, hondashi seasoning, mushroom, cabbage, meat, onions, dried onions.

1. Soak the vermicelli in hot water

2. Soak the tiny shrimps in hot water. Soak the mushrooms in hot water to soften.

3. Cut the cabbage in two and wash. Cut into tiny tiny slices.

4. Slice onions into tiny slices.

5. Throw mushroom (which has already been cut into piece) and onions into pan.

6. Start frying and also throw dried onions (you can get this at Asian markets).

7. Now add a little oil.

8. Continue pan “frying”, add cabbage pieces and vermicelli (having soaked in hot water).

9. Use chopsticks to sift through the pan and even things out.

10. Sprinkle soy sauce and soy saucer (the thicker type). Add some hondashi and pepper.

11. Add water if needed as you cook. I think that’s it!

As I danced to the throngs of music, basked in hot light

swimming in contented coffee mugs and peoples’ co-op,

I thought about my life, though small, like a tadpole, being flung to new countries and heights

My world was still too small, tiny, like the speck of dust and sand sinking to new degrees

No, this was not enough.

Though I had thrown myself off the cliff and into the unknown

this island, this vast land was still too small for my liking

Better a shark backpack than a teddy bear sitting still.

His eyes a glaze, my eyes wandering. When will I ever settle for the norm?

Her majesty slapped me in the face and screamed “are you out of your mind?- you’ll never be normal, you just be yourself”.

That’s when I awoke in fear and trembling, out of a dream so true, I knew it was real.

My soul, atmosphere is shifting, so fast, I can’t grab onto anything.

I just let my stability move me into strange and awkward places, places so foreign

I can’t help but throw up indigestible norms, that never belong in the first place.

I can’t help but feel a little lonely, my mind is shifting too fast, I’m becoming an alien

existing on earth, but finding no spaceship to fly away.

I am a fire being lit and burning every thing in my way down and up.

My Designs- Photo Credit Rustin Michael

http://prints.rustinmichael.com/HITC2011

Hope In The City is the premiere charity fashion event and community for the city of Los Angeles. Organized by Mosaic, Hope In The City creates a space for fashion designers, fashion enthusiasts, models, hair & make-up artists, photographers, and all to come together and use their unique gifts to serve the city and connect with one another to build a community of hope.

Over the last four years Hope In The City has become a loving force in the L.A. Fashion community — giving much needed opportunities to experimental and emerging designers to showcase their collections as well as opportunities to “behind the scenes” artists to display their talents. In the Spring of 2010, Hope In The City joined LA Fashion Week as an official showcase.

I BELIEVE IN FAIRY TALES. NOT.

So I started blogging more on Tumblr because it is easier to use. I got super inspired by some traveler’s blog and thought, how did I not post all my travels? Because internet was super slow in China. Also I didn’t have a computer in Europe. I was basically homeless wandering the countries.  So if you want, you can follow me on twitter or tumblr because WordPress will be my “main blog” for my fashion/art work. Thanks! 🙂

http://jagree.tumblr.com/

By http://www.aaronsjogren.com/

My piece in there! So is me.

More pictures to come from professional photographers.

My design above.

Thank you for enjoying!