as always I intend to be as difficult as possible
I want to write about home as inextricable from identity, as a mechanism of delineation, as an alterable [space/state of mind] reflective of self-expression.
Home is comfort (or whatever value you like), home is autopoietic (genetic from the self), home is dynamic – and as such it is not absolute. Home shifts alongside its constructor.
Home can be a place, time, set of preferences. Home can be a person or people; home can be perceived and projected. A house is not necessary for a home.
I don’t have much in the way of stories about home. I have always felt particularly at home in airports, driving, with my grandmother. [Read: I like control, variety and older women]. Some of this is romantic egotism – some is just trite – but I always feel more ‘at home’ away from home. It may be the break in routine, I’m not sure, but there you have it.
My relative works internationally and (while he owns an apartment) he is rarely ‘home’. My idea of his home is in my company or in Canada, while I’m sure he thinks of his location as ‘home’ (he certainly doesn’t see his institution as such). My mom, for her part, often asks me when I’ll be home to visit; I reply “I’m at home now” to her consternation. I’m curious as to your experiences with others’ perceptions of your home – feel free to post below.
Here are some of my homes:
bookmarks
preferences
that carpet is supremely comfortable to lie on
for the traditionalists
dog
Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say.
A home is a dwelling-place used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for an individual, family, household or several families in a tribe. […] Where more secure dwellings are not available, people may live in the informal and sometimes illegal shacks. […] More generally, “home” may be considered to be a geographic area, such as a town, village,suburb, city, or country. […] Transitory accommodation, such as a hospital, prison, boarding school, college or university is not normally considered permanent enough to replace a more stable location as ‘home’.[citation needed]
So their criteria are clearly visible. Permanence, security, geography, company (why do they include the inhabitants in this definition? Don’t other animals have ‘homes’?) I used to live on campus and felt ‘at home’ – how about you?
A home is generally a place that is close to the heart of the owner, and can become a prized possession. It has been argued that psychologically “The strongest sense of home commonly coincides geographically with a dwelling. Usually the sense of home attenuates as one moves away from that point, but it does not do so in a fixed or regular way.” […] Places like homes can trigger self-reflection, thoughts about who someone is or used to be or who they might become.
I think the editors enjoy reading themselves talk.
Here’s their list of sayings about home (some of which I’m sure will end up as titles for blog assignments)
“a man’s home is his castle“, “there’s no place like home“, “home sweet home“, “to be at home“, “home away from home“, “make yourself at home“, “home is where the heart is” and “home is where you hang your hat“.
I’ve curated this list a bit (I left in “hang your hat” because it’s adorably out of fashion). I’d like to know why this list was published on the “Home” page – and in fact I think it’d be quite funny if that page led here.
Works Cited:
“Home.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web.
(I will add another on revision)
All images are original, and I have the consent of the sleeping man and dog to post their likenesses.
Thank you Joey 😉