 Exploring the notion of "what is" and "where is" home. In a global world it has many connotations and meanings. In this blog I explore the place of my birth and question "what is home"? Exploring the place of my birth and the questions of "what is home"? I am going home. Well not my real home. Or a place I’ve ever actually lived for more than a week at a time. But it feels like a home. I relate to the people and memories there. The houses. The weather. The streets. The food. The word “Home” has so many connotations and meanings. What does it means to me as an expat who has lived away from my “home” country for many years? It’s hard to pinpoint where my “home” actually is. My birth country is a different “home” to the one on my current passport and to the country I now reside in. For many who have lived in a radius that hasn’t ever changed throughout their life they must think I am crazy to discuss the word “home” and what it means.
To not have a clear answer to what is my hometown, my home team or when I am going home must confuse them. In a global world where boarders melt away and technology helps us be “stateless” and "transit" or "nomadic" is becoming more a way of life for some. Does it even matter to our identity to what home is? My children are flummoxed when asked where they are from. Two of them have never lived in the country where their passport is from. Even my husband’s birth country is different to the one he grew up in and holds a passport to. There are many studies and articles on the meaning of home in a physical and spiritual sense, but this description from Leonidas Trampoukis, co-founder of architectural firm, LoT, resonates with me and my meaning of home. “as the idea of belonging somewhere not only in physical terms, but also the feeling of being comfortable, the moment of perceiving and enjoying the small things that inspire you and bring you peace." http://architizer.com/blog/what-is-the-meaning-of-home/ It’s been nearly 15 years since I’ve visited this “home”. This is the town where my father was born and raised. Where his ashes are scattered. Where as a child I spent many rainy school holidays in my grandparent’s house. It’s where my cousins lived and my aunts and uncles are. It’s where my grandparents are buried. There are many beginnings and ends there. The enjoyment of small things that inspire me and helped shape who I am. I feel like I belong there. It will unlock so many memories and ultimately it will be comfortable and it will bring me peace. To me it will always be one of my many homes.
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