Beautiful, Priya. When I was little, we moved every two years, always far from my parents’ families. So I never felt rooted or at home until about age 11. I’m realizing your question has no quick answer for me. Especially now, as we are living in another town to see if we want to move here. I get tripped up now when I say, “coming home,” because I hardly know which home I mean.
As an immigrant, I feel this way too, and to a certain extent, belonging nowhere and everywhere. It’s led me to want to be my own home, somewhere I don’t have to leave. Thank you, Julie!
First off I absolutely Love the image in this post. It's gorgeous and great. And coming home? To me, it means re-settling into my regular life, but hopefully with insight from my recent travel experience— growth mechanism to shift or jump start me into a new realm of me being me. A more thoughtful form of me. (I love travel).
Jeanine, thank you for your perspective. Every physical and metaphorical journey probably has that objective, of reaching an expanded version of ourselves.
Lovely Priya! Been thinking about you and about the journey you're on. We will talk more but this really resonated for me in parallel ways. I wrote about an adjacent space where I've found many homes but they all fill a different part of me and sometimes I don't know how they all fit...but there they are. Part of that exploration is here...https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com
“The jewel-like colors of the butterflies stand out against the dusty afternoon and their lilting, effortless, and confident movement through traffic snarls suggests they possess life’s most profound secrets, and I find myself watching them for clues” — This was beautiful, Priya. Such wonderful words and ones that I totally relate too :)
-- Us, the 'heroes', undergo profound transformations, both inwardly and outwardly, reflecting our innate quest for growth, meaning, and self-discovery amidst the trials of life. Beautiful essay, Priya. xo.
Hi Priya …. This is such a profound piece of writing for me as I’ve always, like you, struggled with the concept of home. I’ve been a migrant child all my life and have rarely lived in India. We have moved across continents & countries and the concept of home has always eluded me. And now as adults, we are at that stage in our lives where we ‘travel’ for pleasure. But the homecoming now takes on a totally different connotation as we depart soon on our next journey. A home that has been lovingly set up and now is all but a transit stop on our ‘journey’.
P.S. also makes you realise how little you actually need for the journey whilst our homes are filled with objects!
Beautiful, Priya. When I was little, we moved every two years, always far from my parents’ families. So I never felt rooted or at home until about age 11. I’m realizing your question has no quick answer for me. Especially now, as we are living in another town to see if we want to move here. I get tripped up now when I say, “coming home,” because I hardly know which home I mean.
As an immigrant, I feel this way too, and to a certain extent, belonging nowhere and everywhere. It’s led me to want to be my own home, somewhere I don’t have to leave. Thank you, Julie!
First off I absolutely Love the image in this post. It's gorgeous and great. And coming home? To me, it means re-settling into my regular life, but hopefully with insight from my recent travel experience— growth mechanism to shift or jump start me into a new realm of me being me. A more thoughtful form of me. (I love travel).
Jeanine, thank you for your perspective. Every physical and metaphorical journey probably has that objective, of reaching an expanded version of ourselves.
Lovely Priya! Been thinking about you and about the journey you're on. We will talk more but this really resonated for me in parallel ways. I wrote about an adjacent space where I've found many homes but they all fill a different part of me and sometimes I don't know how they all fit...but there they are. Part of that exploration is here...https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com
I’m looking forward to reading it, Reena, and to talking about it. Thank you!
I can’t read a reference to Ithaca without sharing this: https://youtu.be/1n3n2Ox4Yfk?si=3ECmPOxkKkdsI1vi
Sean Connery for the win! Thank you for sharing!
“The jewel-like colors of the butterflies stand out against the dusty afternoon and their lilting, effortless, and confident movement through traffic snarls suggests they possess life’s most profound secrets, and I find myself watching them for clues” — This was beautiful, Priya. Such wonderful words and ones that I totally relate too :)
Thank you, Michael, for your kind words!
The Hero with 1000 Faces pops up so much in my life. Love the quote you pulled out. This piece was a dream, per usual with your writing 💚
The quote was a new one for me and really spoke to my experience. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!
-- Us, the 'heroes', undergo profound transformations, both inwardly and outwardly, reflecting our innate quest for growth, meaning, and self-discovery amidst the trials of life. Beautiful essay, Priya. xo.
Thaissa, thank you for taking the time to read! I appreciate you!
Hi Priya …. This is such a profound piece of writing for me as I’ve always, like you, struggled with the concept of home. I’ve been a migrant child all my life and have rarely lived in India. We have moved across continents & countries and the concept of home has always eluded me. And now as adults, we are at that stage in our lives where we ‘travel’ for pleasure. But the homecoming now takes on a totally different connotation as we depart soon on our next journey. A home that has been lovingly set up and now is all but a transit stop on our ‘journey’.
P.S. also makes you realise how little you actually need for the journey whilst our homes are filled with objects!
Nimmy, that’s a powerful observation. It makes me think that, more than ever, we are our own homes. It’s always great to hear from you!