For my Figure Running project, I mapped out the word “home” in the neighborhood I grew up in and am currently living in. I felt that the meaning of home has changed for me. This is the same “home” I was raised in and now, as an adult, this is where I live again, after having lived on my own for a considerable amount of time.
Transition isn’t easy most times, but if you can yield yourself to it and remain teachable in the process, you grow in the direction of maturity and wisdom, which aren’t automatic products of aging. I say this because, for me, redefining “home” forced me to focus on memories of my childhood, including memories of my neighborhood elementary school and middle school that are in my neighborhood, and even memories surrounding the construct of “me” rooted in hidden but real beliefs created against the backdrop of my family’s organization, beliefs, culture, and history.
As I have grown from a child to an adult on her own to now an adult living in her parents’ home, I realized that not only do I see “home” differently, I also see my parents differently. Life’s a process in which you get to change your mind if you are open to it. I must admit, I wasn’t looking to really learn anything from this project. But, I did because I was able to reflect upon and see with more clarity what “home” means to me today and how it’s evolved.
Redirected 