Messina

On a moonlit night in July 2004, William Maddux left his home in
Fond du Lac, Wis., and headed for New York City. Led by his dream to
become a published author, Maddux didn’t board a plane, take a bus or
drive a car. Instead, his mode of transportation came in two forms: his
intuition and his two feet.

It was the beginning of what Maddux, now 36, calls a bold
experiment. In his words: “I left my place and job, abandoned my car
and gave away all of my money.”

Maddux tells his story as we sit at a local IHOP. He looks like the
all-American man next door, with his 6-foot-2-inch frame, clean-shaven
face, cleft chin, piercing blue eyes and bright white smile. With
dishes rattling and servers bustling in the background, Maddux takes me
back to a Midwest summer, circa 2004. Maddux was in a failing marriage
and job that didn’t have a future.

“I wanted a new life. I wanted to start over. I was tired of going
through the same old circles, the same old routine,” he recalls.

So Maddux set out on foot to New York, where he hoped to become a
published author. After New York, he then traveled to Florida, back to
Wisconsin and then to Iowa. He took a two-year break and continued to
Tucson, then Indianapolis, Iowa City, Sedona, Santa Barbara, Calif.,
and back to Tucson, in May 2008. While he took buses and accepted some
rides, he walked many miles, including a 95-mile stretch in Florida
from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach.

Maddux lived in shelters and missions and followed his intuition to
find food and safety. At times, complete strangers opened their homes
to him, such as Big John in Altoona, Pa., and two families in Madison,
Wis.

Besides experiencing the generosity of others—”Everybody has
some goodness in them,” he says—Maddux learned an important
lesson that he is writing a book about: It is a privilege to be
poor.

While it may seem like a strange concept at first, Maddux explains
his philosophy and makes a thought-provoking point. “When you have no
money, you still have needs. The concept is based on the fact that you
need to find a way to meet those needs. The privilege is in order to
meet what you need, you have to look within rather than look (outside
of yourself).

“Our society teaches us we are based mainly on what we have. But if
circumstances ever take what you have away, then society says if you
have nothing; you are worth nothing. I’m trying to see that we’re not
just worth what we have outside of ourselves. Our worth depends also on
what is inside—talents, dreams and skills.”

When I ask Maddux if he thinks we can learn this concept while
having money, he laughs and says yes, but suggests that it might be
more difficult.

“Our society is so wrapped up in its beliefs about money; it may be
more difficult to find these qualities in having money. … You don’t
need to give up your place to stay and go to that extreme. But (after)
not having a job for one to two months and having your savings dwindle
down to nothing, you are forced to be more creative on how to meet your
needs. As you find creative ways, you are going to find something
within yourself that you might not have found in other
circumstances.”

Maddux seems like a pro in finding the positive in life’s
situations. He says that he is “just as happy with a lot of money or no
money.”

Today, he enjoys his job at a nursery. “It’s inspirational. I get to
be with people, plants and cats. The first thing in the morning before
anybody shows up, I get to see birds flying in the nursery. … It’s
such a peaceful atmosphere.”

This seemingly gentle man who finds beauty in seeing a bird fly and
rejoices over the generosity of others says his number one goal in life
is to touch people’s lives and cause smiles. He says he’s literally
given the shirt off his back to homeless men, has bought meals for
others and has recited his poetry hundreds of times as gifts for
others. (See below for “The Purpose in Our Lives.”) He wants to inspire
people to help others.

In this time of financial adversity, Maddux’s ideas may appear
simplistic at first. But I find value in his words. Why not look within
ourselves for worth, instead of just looking at our checkbooks?

The Purpose in Our Lives

by William Maddux

(2001)

In the end when all is said and done,

It does not matter

How many races, games, and toys that we have won

Nor money that we have earned.

What matters most

Is what is found inside.

Is there love, kindness, and wisdom

Or does anger, envy, and bitterness

Still control our lives?

Life is a journey

That we should take

To learn the lessons

From our mistakes.

Will we learn to overcome pain and strife

To find the power of love in our life?

There are so many reasons that we live for,

Money, power, and esteem for sure.

We fight so hard for ourselves.

Yet, if we do not see these errors in our ways,

These things that we strive for

Will blind us all the way to the grave.

In the end all that matters,

Are the lives that we have touched

And the smiles that we have caused.

In the end, there will be only love.

This article appears in May 7-13, 2009.