“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to” ~John Ed Pearce
“When you're safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you're having an adventure you wish you were safe at home” ~Thornton Wilder
Those of you who read my blog regularly may have figured out, I spent my life traveling, moving around from place to place every few years. So the concept of home was a bit different for me. I created my home around me. And I didn't think twice about it. But recently I had the chance to go ''home'', to the house in which I lived in as a baby, to the country that I belong to, both by law and by spirit. And it got me thinking a lot about the concept of ''roots''.
I have to mention that I spend a large amount of my childhood in the United States, so I was used to different people, from different backgrounds. But the idea in the US, it seems to me, is to assimilate everyone. Instead of encouraging people to keep their cultures, they loose them, and choose a one-size-fits-all approach to culture that the US offers. It was always the strangest thing for me: the United States has no culture of its own. It's all a mixture of the cultures of its immigrants (St.Patrick's Day), new things invented by capitalism (Valentine's Day), and a few traditions that were taken from Native Americans.
I mentioned this, because it seems like the United States is the role model for other countries nowadays. Like an older sibling, all the countries look up to it and copy anything it does.
My point is, generally, I feel like people have forgotten to value culture. And I feel like I have been one of those people. I thought that what you accomplished in life was more important then your history. It is, of course, important, but where you come from, your roots are the base of who you are as a person.
We are not born blank. We are born with our parent's DNA, we start to eat the food of our land, develop the anti-bodies for the germs of that area, get used to the climate, traditions, learn the language. And even if our lives lead us far away from all that, that is what lies at our core. And I really think that a person can never feel complete and happy being apart from that part of themselves. They could, for a while, but there will always be something missing, even if they might not notice it.
I didn't notice it. I think I was so used to the emptiness that I forgot about it. I killed any feeling of homesickness early in my childhood. It was simply easier to let go and not care about it. Otherwise the feeling of being severed from your homeland would get in the way. And I was able to let it go, little by little.
Visiting became a sort of adventure and test of memory. Was everything as I remember it? Is that tree still there? Do you remember where this came from?
The tastes, smells, the people, the energy, was always something as if from a wonderful dream. I would come, live the dream, and then go back to reality (my home abroad). But now that I am older, I realized the bigger issue: I'm not sure which one is the reality. I guess, ultimately, both are.
And now that I am older I only now start to understand the importance of having both, if circumstances are such that you cannot combine the two.
A person without roots is only half a person. They are like a plant that has been picked from the ground: it can live, but on artificial life support, and it's life may not be as long and full.
Every person is unique and creates their own path in life, filled with their experiences, accomplishments, goals, hopes and dreams. But our culture, our family, our homeland make up the background of who we are. It seems like there has to be a balance: without having harmony with your past, your future is questionable.
I guess it's hard to feel what I am referring to if it's not as extreme. If you live in your home town, or visit your family often, you take it for granted. So I urge you, don't. Because one of the worst things is to realize that it's too late to start to appreciate something.
Walking around my home country now, I am constantly on the verge of tears. I'm not quite sure why. It's something like, I feel like I belong, like I'm a part of this land, these people. This is a part of me. Everything: the air, the dirt, the sky. It's such a wonderful thing. And it's so sad that it need to be neglected so much to be felt so clearly afterward.
Never forget who you are and where you come from.
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