This week, we opened up about home, a topic that seems straightforward but that evidently carries a lot of weight for many of us. A common insight that was discussed had to do with the dynamic nature of the term “home,” that it can shift shapes to mean different things and is constantly in flux. In the case of Hava Rosenberg, Angela Olivares, and

Hava Rosenberg, in Home is Where I Want to Be, But I Guess I’m Already There, says that “home is less of a physical space than it is a collection of fragments and memories that assemble themselves into a cohesive whole”. This idea that home isn’t any one physical space or a single person, but instead a collection of meaningful, familiar things really resonates with me. Myself and evidently many others agree with Hava in that home isn’t found in a house. Home can be found in memories, in little things that stir something up in you. Hava mentions things like scent, driving down familiar roads, and listening to music from your childhood as being the types of memories that evoke a sense of home. I think that’s really beautiful.

Angela Olivares talks about home being characterized by her entire family gathering for Christmas in the Philippines. She mentions that since moving to Canada and no longer gathering with her big family during the holidays, home isn’t here. She says, “this is where we live, not what we can really call our home.” I found this to be particularly touching, as my mom, who has lived in Canada since I was born, still says she’s “going home” when referring to going on a trip to the Philippines, a place where we no longer have many familial ties. In the same way as Hava’s story, home isn’t a house for Angela. Instead, it’s a vivid memory.

In Home. Yes, We Are Home, Jamie King alludes to home being associated with memories as well. Her emotional recounting of the death of her theatre company’s Technical Director, the vivid descriptions of the events after his death, the sense of community and the retelling of stories — these are all memories that are clearly very close to her heart. She says that “there is a sense of shared experience that creates a space rather than a permanence of location,” and that “there is a sense of home in their hellos”, evoking this sense that home is found in memory.

Home is a complicated thing. Home can mean where you’re from, where you’re going, or who you are. It can be comfort or it can be mourning. Home is always something we carry with us, whether the weight is heavy or light. It lives in our memories.

Works Cited:

King, Jamie. “Home. Yes, We Are Home.” Engl 470A: Oh Canada. 5 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015.

Olivares, Angela. “Home, Ya Filthy Animals.” Engl 470. UBC Blogs. 6 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015.

Rosenberg, Hava. “Home is Where I Want to Be, But I Guess I’m Already There.” O Canada? UBC Blogs. 4 June 2015. Web. 8 June 2015.