"Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves."
-- Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing, pg. 44
I'm moving to Morocco in September, and here are my thoughts: I feel like I'm packing my bags to move from my home to my home. Yes, I will miss my family and friends while there, but here in Maryland, USA, I have missed my friends in Morocco. And this had me thinking about my concept of "home".
For many people, home means comfort, security, strength, and many other things things to many other people. Its typical physical manifestations include houses, properties of land, states, or countries. For the few like me, home is wherever you are. I feel comfort within myself, and a wavering level of discomfort wherever I am (but not necessarily a bad discomfort, I'm referring to the discomfort that one leans towards). I carry strength inside of me, and that strength will shine wherever I may be. I am secure in my identity while open to change in my life, and that is truly all the security I could really demand for in this world.
Recognizing that we belong to ourselves as the quotes say is vital to our survival; it allows us to pick up our bags and roll out whenever necessary. We are mobile as a species. Brené Brown, professional researcher-storyteller-boss lady, says "Belonging is being a part of something bigger than yourself, but it's also the courage to stand alone and to belong to yourself." Because I have done the work to define who I am, I feel prepared to live and be anywhere. I am not traveling to world or just navigating the US seeking to be liked, seeking validation, seeking to be anyone's "favorite," seeking to be the best. Belonging demands that I am who I am regardless of external changes in politics, beliefs, values, etc.
This is not to say that your environment, your birthplace or your nation does not play a roll in your development and can not change you; it's half of the saying "nature vs. nurture." We know that our environment has a huge influence on who we become and in many cases, shapes us. But the lessons learned from your upbringing-- at your family house, your middle school, the local coffee shop you used to get lunch at every Tuesday-- those lessons don't leave you when you move out the house, out the state or out the country. The sentiment you attach to that land is simply sentiment, and you can take sentiment wherever you go.
Another reason I feel like I'm moving from one home to the next is because I am not particularly sacrificing much by moving to Morocco. I'm not sacrificing time I could be spending with my family and friends because thanks to technology, they will always be reachable. Plus, I will have the pleasure of staying with two host families in Morocco, and opportunities to make new friends. I'm not sacrificing American luxuries because no one is truly entitled to them in the first place. I'm not sacrificing two years of my life to do this work because I want to spend my time there; it has actually been my goal to return to Morocco since I left so this opportunity is truly a blessing. I'll be immersed in two or more languages everyday which is every language-learner's dream, and I'll get to teach which was my career goal for all four years of college. To me, this opportunity seems much more like a fantasy than a courageous and sacrificial act. I am sacrificing my five-foot mirror that I can't take with me (too expensive to ship) as well as frequent trips to Chipotle. Though I will happily exchange those for Moroccan couscous and prickly pears which I've missed for some time.
With all that being said, I'm moving to Morocco. 🎉
