Naomi is an author, a journalist, a letter-writer and a mama. Her blog is like a well-worn scrapbook, bulging with ticket stubs from far-off places, dispatches from Melbourne life, photographs of the lovely and the absurd, letters from strangers, creative inspiration, fables and dreams, and treasures uncovered. Follow Naomis' blog here
How do you define home?
By
No comments
Sometimes it can be a little bit lonely, working from home. There are no collaborations, no brainstorming sessions, and no-one to congratulate you on a job well done. Likewise there is no-one to sit with you at lunch, and nobody in the tea room when you want to dissect last night’s episode of The Shire.
Last year I moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast to Adelaide to Melbourne (that last move while I was four months pregnant). The year before that I moved from New York to the Gold Coast to Sydney.
I find that when it comes to making new friends in a new city, not having a workplace makes things kind of tough. Where do you go to meet like-minded people? (“Join a club,” my inner voice said when we got to Melbourne earlier this year. But my inner voice didn’t have deadlines up the wazoo that couldn’t be ignored because it was going to have a baby soon. I worked day and night and most weekends. Clubs were out.)
But it goes deeper than just making friends. After all these moves, I have really started to wonder where in the world is that space that I can call “home.” Can “home” become an actual place again for me? Or, with beloved friends scattered all over the world, will I only ever be singing Home is Wherever I’m With You?
Last year, one of those dear friends told me this: “If you can sit alone in a cafe and look around at the other customers and think ‘these seem like my people. I want to know them more,’ you’ve found somewhere to rest your bags.”
I’m in Melbourne for good now, so maybe I should try this technique. Maybe I just need to drink more lattes.
How about you? How do you start fresh in a new place? And how do you define home?
