It was very interesting reading through and hearing what people thought about their homes. I was particularly impressed, and humbled, with how incredibly honest and vulnerable a lot of the people in this class were. It is often sobering to hear how privileged your viewpoint can be at times, and is a good reminder that people come from very different backgrounds.
The first common theme that stood out for me in reading through everyone’s posts, was that of confusion. It certainly felt like “home” is not something people think about often, or at least what it means to them. We all needed to examine our own thoughts and beliefs as to what we consider home, and then decide on where home is for us.
It also felt like home for a lot of people ended up being somewhere that they felt safe. Somewhere they could go and not have to worry about the troubles of life. It is the place to unwind, unravel, and put life on pause. It’s where we get our energy from to tackle the day’s challenges, and it’s somewhere we retreat to when things become too tough.
Most significantly though, it felt like home is somewhere with a lot of memories and a lot of emotions. For something to feel like home we need to be attached to it. We need to have experiences there, photos, and most importantly people. I didn’t read all of the posts, but the ones I did always included other people. Most often including family. Family was something that led to a lot of strong memories and left us reminiscing. Because of those memories, we felt safe, and we could recharge our batteries in those spaces.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for everyone though. Some of us did not feel like we have a home, or that we are looking for a home still. The idea that home is something that can be lost, but also something that we can find again. There were several of us who mentioned they do not have a home. The reasons behind why this might be vary, but I get a sense of hope from everyone that one day they will eventually have a home. It feels like it is something that we all value, whether or not we have one, and it is something worth striving for.
Looking at some common problems for immigrants, it feels like a lot of them struggle to integrate (to Canada specifically) due to the loss of features of their home. Home in this context feels like a collection of culture, people, environment, and weather even. Things that bring comfort are no longer present, and the change can be shocking. In reading some of the stories of home, it felt like a common theme for those who were a newer to Canada, was that they were stuck between two places. They missed certain aspects of their former home, but also have begun to integrate into Canada, but don’t really fit in either place.
The final theme that I came across was that of how most, if not all, of our homes are built on the land of someone else. Our homes and communities have been built on the land of Native communities who have been here far longer than we have. A lot of us, myself included, feel perfectly at home here in Vancouver and don’t always remember this fact. I think this is something worth remembering though. That this was their home first, and they have their own memories and stories of this land. It can’t hurt to try and integrate these stories into our own, to make our homes as inclusive as possible.
Works Cited
“B.C. First Nations & Indigenous People.” WelcomeBC, www.welcomebc.ca/Choose-B-C/Explore-British-Columbia/B-C-First-Nations-Indigenous-People.
Spracklin, Pat. “Top 10 Problems for Immigrants.” Immigroup, 18 July 2018, www.immigroup.com/news/top-10-problems-immigrants.