Having a glimpse into what everyone associates with “home” was a very interesting, yet intimate exercise. Although there were many similarities shared between many of us partaking in this assignment, they differed in their own way. From what I gathered, some of the more communal values, assumptions, and stories people associated with home were as follows.
My dog, Oakley, who will be referenced much too frequently throughout the course of this class.
First and foremost, pets. Of course not everyone has a pet, but I am confident that those who do have a pet will agree with me in saying that there is a special bond between the animal and yourself. I for one, when away from “home” at university, my dog took up a portion of my mind that it would insult the human members of my family should they read this. I am not surprised that I shared this attachment to home.
Next of course was family. When one thinks of home it is common to partner your family with this topic. Whether family being your parents and siblings or the people that were responsible for molding into the person you are today, everyone has a sense of family.
Also, a surprising number of my fellow classmates brought up them moving from one place to another, having more than one place they call home. This was unexpected if im being honest. When I think of all my friends I made throughout high school, almost 100% of them had been friends with one another since they can remember. One thing I mentioned in my blog post was the relevance of childhood friends, and how they shared experiences with you as part of growing up together. I didn’t realize how many shared my reality of a transition of city and even province. This was both reassuring and eye opening concurrently.
Lastly, from what I gathered to be commonplace among us all was the association of the physical landscape of what is home. The stimulation of the sense that a return to home brings when spending a period of time elsewhere. For me, as mentioned in my blog post, are the mountains. It was so interesting hearing the varying associations of smells, energy, and bond one has with their impression of home. The aforementioned characteristics of home being “somewhere that is both desirable and that exists in the minds eye as much as in a particular physical location” (Allex Fox, 2016.)
This has been yet again a very thought-provoking and insightful invitation to think of ordinary concepts such as home through a deeper introspective lens. I very much enjoyed this exercise.
Works Cited
Fox, M. A., & *, N. (2016, December 23). Why is home so important to us? https://blog.oup.com/2016/12/home-place-environment/
Why are dogs called ‘man’s best friend’? (2019, December 05). https://www.rover.com/blog/dogs-called-mans-best-friend/