1 | Home Ground

Action 1 | Home Ground

“There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home.” — the character of Dorothy (Judy Garland) from the motion picture ‘The Wizard of Oz’

For this action, I paired with Marcia Higuchi (Brazil). 

Currently living in Gothenburg, Sweden, and scheduled to relocate to Canada within days, the idea of ‘home ground’ had many meanings during this conversation. Gothenburg, Sweden had been a home to my family for the last year. I had grieved the loss of a parent here, I had begun the journey of my MFA here, my daughter had started school for the first time here. 

Fika, Lagom, and “tack så mycket!” all had relevance to me from a place they had never existed before. Sweden had opened itself to me as adventure, perspective, and a challenge of self-growth.

As we spoke to one another, Marcia and I came to the subject of motherhood. Her son is 4, my daughter is 5 and across worlds, in this initial conversation, we met in the common place of motherhood. For us, motherhood brings upon an important responsibility to our children. It is no longer a simple decision of where we want to live, travel, explore. Our decisions take on a selfless turn into what is best for our children. What is the home ground we are providing for them?

Living in Sweden was a dream experience for me and now, as I sit here writing in Canada listening to my daughter giggle downstairs as she plays with her grandma, Sweden seems like a dream. It is surreal that I lived there. That I awoke in Canada only a week ago. And now, on Canadian soil once again, in quarantine, in a city I have never lived in, and in a home that I am moving from this month, I am not sure I am in a place to answer this question. This idea of home ground. This concept of grounding. Perhaps home ground is much like the seeking of truth or the act of living in itself. It is the process, and the journey rather than the destination. It is finding a sense of home in people, in experiences, in the confidence of knowing, deep within yourself that home can truly be where the heart is. But can the concept of home really be reduced to such a cliché?

For now, I simplify things for home’s sanctity. home  is where my daughter giggles and where I can sense that she feels grounded and safe.

For now home rests in maternal instinct. Home grounding is no longer a self-fulfilling destination but a process in the making of a home for someone else. A bird making a nest, a fox burrowing a hole is no different than a human picking the spot to tuck in their young for the night.  

As I made this video that I share in this post, it took on more meaning to me now that I am gone from the city of Gothenburg. The memories behind the scenes I show now spark memories and nostalgia. When you see a wall of graffiti, I see the tram I was riding when I shot that. When you see the boulevard of trees, I see the bike I am riding built with a friend that I love. When you see the empty cup of coffee, for me it is Café Biscotti, a favourite place for a kanelbullar. And when you see a little girl, I see the love of my life, playing on the rocks in the forest beside our house. 

Home ground is more than the physical space we find ourselves in, however important that space is. It is the memories and experiences with those that we love that bring a grounding and sense of peace.