Recorded on a hoarse voice, on a Thursday the 13th, fifteen days before I hand back my keys.
The Announcement
At the end of this month, I'm giving my apartment back to the landlord. I'll be homeless again.
This is my first podcast on Riverside. I'm sick, I'm stressed, and I'm recording raw. No script. No plan. Just what's true.
The difference this time: I'm employed. So ideally this won't last long. Unhoused, maybe. Shelterless, hopefully not. That's the goal.
Today is August 13th. Fifteen days to figure it out. My math is bad, but that's half a month.
Target: low-income housing in Tampa, $600–$900 a month.
Current: $1,100 plus utilities for a one-bedroom.
Reality: can't swing it on what I make. Food stamps are applied for, but they'll land after I'm already out.
Timing didn't line up. Life is what it is. I've learned not to marinate in this space, though God knows it's hard when you're standing in it. Probably 30 to 60 more days of transition. Maybe more if the next spot is temporary. But once I'm out? I let it go. I move.
Why I Write from the Floor
My work centers on homelessness, poverty, spirituality, and deconstructing religion.
The short version: raised in a Black Christian home. Gay. Family didn't accept it. I was told I was wrong. An abomination. Demon-possessed. From childhood. Maybe they didn't mean it the way I heard it. But they said it. I hope they'd see it differently now. Maybe they don't. I can't speak for them.
My story isn't rare. Homeless, Black, and gay is a common intersection in America. Not the largest demographic, but a disproportionate one. LGBTQ+ rejection drives more Black male homelessness than anyone wants to acknowledge. It is what it is.
Kosmic Quill: Built on the Floor
The Kosmic Quill Project was born during homelessness. Not as a business. As a lifeline.
A reason to build something when I had nothing. A place to put my attention so I didn't disappear. Didn't matter if it made money. Didn't matter if anyone read it. It kept me here.
kosmicquill.com: essays on this life, spirituality, religion, and the in-between.
Still writing from the floor. Literally. The brand is accurate.
The Hundred Lives Project
Goal: measurably impact 100 people. Know their names.
Not "reach." Impact. Help. Names.
It started as a survival tactic, a way to focus on what comes after instead of the suffering now. Transcendence, to me, means you're not just saving yourself anymore. You're lifting somebody else.
The content is the vehicle. If it helps one person, it stops being just my pain. It becomes purpose.
Support the Work
This is the floor. I'm still writing from it. If this resonates, if you want the Hundred Lives Project to exist, if you want more raw truth and less polished performance, here's how you help:
Buy me a coffee. It keeps the lights on, the laptop charged, and the voice recording.
Know Tampa housing? Low-income units, transition programs, studios in the $600–$900 range. DM me. Fifteen days moves fast.
Read more: kosmicquill.com | Substack | Medium
Want in on the Hundred Lives Project? Reach out. Collaboration over competition.
Tomorrow's Friday. Enjoy it. Weekend off? Enjoy that too. Saturday's Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom.
You'll hear from me again. Or you won't. Either way, all the best.
If this one stayed with you, you might also like:
The Third Notice: A Direct Ask