Usually I randomly click a few blogs from the student list and write something I enjoyed and observed. Today, I read through every blog on the list. Since everyone was required to write about a concept, their concept of home, I was curious as to how many people had a different idea of home. Out of all the blogs, I have the most to say about Marissa Birnie’s, Sarah Kelling’s, and Danielle Vernon’s.
Shared Assumptions:
Idea is home
Connections makes home
Stories defines home
Shared Values
Independence
Stability and Change
Growth
Sense of Belonging
Similarities and Differences are Interchangeable
For those who believe that home is not a physical location, there are those who do believe that home is a physical location.
For those who believe that home is where the memories are made, there are those who choose a different definition.
Who are we to say that their definitions are invalid? That would merely be our ideals and our understandings being pushed onto others. Home is definitely not a place for me, but I can rationally understand why someone might think home is a physical location. As Marissa also mentioned, home is the place that I dream about. It isn’t necessarily a real place, it is more a mixture of my memories and some strange brain activity. But, it is definitely made of intangible experiences where imagination and reality meets. In this regard, home is more like the imagination and a feeling of longing that occurs along with it. My dreams bring nostalgia; they bring me home.
At the same time, home can be a game of pretend and imagination. Similar to Sarah, I felt that I had no place, my imagination was key. I didn’t find reality exciting or comfortable. My dreams were where I belonged. The ‘logical song’ tried to force its way through and thought it had me in its grasp, but I was just playing to its tune for survival. My seeking of home trickled into my goals and career choice, but I had to pretend for my family, for society. I will keep pretending until I figure out how to get home. The lack of comfort and stability effects one’s perception of home and if no place feels like home, then all we can do is pretend until it becomes home. As the saying goes, fake it ’til you make it. That’s where connections come in. As Danielle mentions, stories are rooted in connections with the world. Connections make certain places feel comfortable. My memories are affected by my imagination and that trails down to my feelings for ‘home’.
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I think I find that people throw the word ‘home’ around too casually because I never found a person’s answer enough. As I was reading through the blogs, I began to think to myself, why can’t I be satisfied with a physical location or the connections of people being ‘home’? That is not to say the answers were not ‘good’, but just that they weren’t enough, they weren’t fulfilling. I began to wonder. Is this because I hold a preconception of what home is? If so, what is it? Why can’t I even begin to formulate what home might mean for me? How can I be dissatisfied with an answer when I don’t have an answer myself?
Sometimes I wonder why the Indigenous People are supposed to be tied to a location. Shouldn’t that be changed by now? To put it lightly, isn’t cutting people off into sectors a form of bullying? “Canada” is a country, yes. But, it is also a piece of land that was sectioned off. Each border created, each boundary enforced. Those are merely conceptions. Rules and regulations put down by those in power. Some inhabit Canada. Some inhabit British Columbia. Others inhabit Vancouver. All of us inhabit Earth. We all live on land, and earth mass. Why should we live between walls when we all rightfully co-inhabit the world?