Why Home?

I'm on a quest for wellness. That's why I created this blog. My belief is that wellness comes through the three H's. 

Home. Happy. Health.

My background is in anthropology. (For those of you that believe anthropology is just a rockin' store...the study of anthropology is the study of culture, of how we, as humans, come to interact with the world around us).  Edward Casey is an anthropologist that teaches the importance of place. He believes that our environment has a profound effect on us. Probably more than you have ever realized. 

Casey says "dwelling places offer not just bare shelter but the possibility of sojourns of upbringing, of education, of contemplation, of conviviality, lingerings of many kinds and durations" (Getting Back Into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World, Edward Casey, p 112).

A home is not merely a building. Anyone who has moved out of a childhood home understands this. A home is where we grow. Where we learn. Where we come to understand the world. A home provides us with a lens to see our surroundings. Something to base our perspectives off of. A home allows us a place to think, to feast, and to celebrate. 

Homes reflect the people living in them. Casey believes, "the longer we reside in places, the more bodylike they seem to be. As we feel more 'at home' in dwelling places, they become places created in our own bodily image" (Getting Back Into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World, Edward Casey, p 120).. Every home is different. We strive to put our personailities into our home. We want our space to reflect who we are. 

What is the design of your home? Do you feel that your home has a "heart"? I've often heard the phrase, "the kitchen is the heart of my home". I've also noticed that Pinterest has countless articles teaching moms how to create a "command center" to organize and track the family activities. Similarly, the brain is often known as the command center of your body. 

We also begin to take on the image of our home. Casey further expains, "We tend to identify ourselves by--and with--the places in which we reside. A dwelling where we reside comes to exist in our image, but we, the residents, also take on certain of its properties. How we are, our bodily being, relfects how we reside in built places" (Getting Back Into Place: Toward a Renewed Understanding of the Place-World, Edward Casey, p 120).

In my quest for wellness, I've noticed the effect that my home has on me. When the laundry is piled up, the counters are messy, and my hair seems to have taken over the bathroom (other women out there feel me on this right? :/ ), I have a hard time feeling a peace. Rather, I feel frazzled, frustrated, and on edge. 

As part of my quest for wellness, I believe it is essential to have an organized, functional home. If I want to feel at peace with my life, my home must become a place of peace. The design of our homes must reflect the people that we want to become. This is why I feel the need to focus on Home. 

How have you noticed that your home affects you? Have you ever noticed your wellness being connected to a personal space?