Making Home
I’ve never been one to write New Year’s Resolutions. But I do enjoy the idea of giving a theme to the year – one word that will center me when I question what I should be focusing on.
Last year, the theme was Make and it fueled a near-maniacal pursuit of making a physical product, Leap Kit, to be both useful and beautiful.
This year, the theme is Home.
The word seems to be a globally evolving concept that can simultaneously illicit hope and sadness. When I was a kid, home was a physical place where I could sleep, eat, shower, and sprint through the halls wearing nothing more than my skivvies and a cape.
As I got older, I realized that kind of home is a luxury. I went to college in Chicago near a housing project called Cabrini Green and watched as underprivileged communities were displaced for new development. More recently, I hear the words “Refugees” and “War” as governments battle over politics and religion at the cost of people’s livelihood.
Personally, I’ve been a minimalist for the past four years. I can pack most of my belongings into a four-door sedan. But growing up in the midwest, I’ve always felt pressure to lean into the ideals of the “American Dream” home – a picturesque physical place to settle down and raise a family.
However, I think home is both a place and a feeling – being centered or where you’re supposed to be. It is something you make for yourself, share with others and, at it’s best, it’s something you take with you. So I’m curious about starting in a different place this year:
How can I help others define home for themselves?
No, I’m not able to build physical spaces for those in need (not yet anyway). But education is often the place people go when they’re at a point of transition. Even if they have a home, individuals who take the posture of a student look to institutions and new information to provide building blocks to make a better home. This is both figurative, a better home within to feel more confident and centered, and literal, a better home to spring from and retreat to.
There is much more to learning than sharing and absorbing content. It must also entail grappling with our values, beliefs, dreams and our definitions of necessity and success.
The more you know what home means to you, the more you will know what you need to learn, what you need to earn, and most importantly, what you can give.
And perhaps, when you can answer those questions, you’ll find yourself at home.