What are your life basics?

[imperfect_cupcake]

Originally Posted by Gemme

Agreed, cupcake.

There were days in my childhood that I had a choice between no food or dry cat food. Or when my mother dragged me across several states to sleep in homeless shelters. We were broke as a joke but those were not the happiest times for me. Not even close.

For my basics, this is what I need to thrive:

*community and a sense of knowing where I belong and what pack/pride/gaggle I belong to
*personal safety, in home and heart
*stable employment and home life
*unlimited time to myself (I may not take a lot some days, but I don't like limitations placed upon time I spend with myself)
*an abundance, even an over abundance, of food in the house (leftover from that whole no food/cat food thing)
*a firm bed for whole body health
*regular exercise for physical and mental health and pain management for health issues
*I need to be seen. Really and truly seen and accepted and loved. No filters, no fillers. Good, bad and ugly.
*Support, professionally and personally.

I can certainly still exist missing some or all of these things but it's just that; existence. I want to do more than just breathe air in and out. I want to live; truly so. These are some of the things I require to do that.

Gosh, indeed. Having a home that I don't have to wear a wool hat to bed and shiver, my face be ice cold and watch my breath mist in front of me, take two hours to get to work, in order to dodge train fare, steal cat food from the vet practice so I can eat (dry frozen fifth grade fish fillets), shop lift food and barely make rent, constantly worried if I'm going to be able to the next month, while not being a citizen, is very frightening.

Now, I am on a tight budget. I have no milk for my tea Till the 30th, I'm living literally on rice and beans but I am not scared about being on the street. I'm not hungry and I'm warm this is poor. Not poverty.

I think you used a better word: thrive.
The basics I need to thrive. Thank you for understanding what I mean.

Gosh, isn't it great to have the opportunity to know <3