“Home is where you feel loved, appreciated and Safe” T.Taylor
During a short business trip to The Nation’s Capital, Canberra, my first home in Australia. I was reminded of how much my story matters and needs to be shared.
I met with a new Canberra mum during my visit and shared my Canberra experience with her starting with my move from Cairo to Canberra, feeling misplaced, misunderstood to breaking into the job market and starting my own family, then starting my first business End2End Events and sharing with the Canberra Community who I really was through the creation of memorable event experiences.
During that same trip I managed to catch-up with an ex-team member, a new migrant family who chose Canberra to be their home away from home and some good friends and connections, who all shared with me an insight into their journey of change and transition whether into motherhood, applying for jobs post-COVID or settling into a new city.
On my last day I visited a special location at The Canberra Centre which I frequently visited during my early days in Australia and recorded a clip from there. It was the same location I would sit in a coffee in hand and people watch. Except the coffee shop I frequently visited at the time was no longer there!
You can watch the clip below;
The recording in clip is a bit low because the noise around me was loud. However, the clip captures a moment of reflection as I stood in a place I had sat before watching people to understand their behaviours and understand the new culture I had chosen to be part of. Whilst I was recording the clip a friendly Sales Assistant who knew me from my time in Canberra waved ‘Hello’ from behind the glass. She had not seen me since my move to Melbourne and so I went in to chat after. This incident and many others I had experienced during my short stay reminded me of why I chose Canberra to be Home for a quiet some time.
During my early days as a new migrant in Canberra - I would frequently visit ‘The Canberra Centre’ just to be around people! I would walk into a few shops and would be greeted by friendly shop assistants who would ask me if I needed help and would tell me to ‘Have a good one’. This is how I quickly started picking up some Ozzie slang. The Canberra Centre quickly became my home away from home.
Today I still consider The Canberra Centre, my home away from home in Canberra. The Only Difference is I now run into friends, supporters, colleagues and many Canberra Community members.
My trip back to my first home in Australia provided time for self-reflection. I allowed myself to feel the sadness that comes with remembering some challenging times and the joy that comes with remembering the good ones. I am blessed to have spent fifteen years of my adult life in The Capital of Australia. The land of The Ngunnawal people.
Where is Home for you? Do you re-visit the areas that remind you of home?
If you delve deeper into why you feel at home in certain areas and not others you will conclude that the feelings of being at home is usually experienced in the areas where you have a personal connection with others. This connection could have been created through your work community, your local neighbourhood community or even like me in a shopping centre community!
Want to explore where is home for you? Let's chat
Marwa
Your LifeStyle Design Consultant