The reason I stayed away from my home for a week is not essential to this post. I could not be home and so I stayed with friends and loved ones for a week. The whole experience made me think more about the concept of home than I ever have before. What is it and where is it? 

I think there are two manifestations of home--the fixed point and the versed point. While I was away, my home remained a fixed point on the planet. Its location marked on the earth with cement and wood. It has one set of coordinates, one address. It was generated by a construction company and bought by my mom in 2010. Supposedly, the land does not belong to us. We only own the space above the land, which means we can paint the inside anyway we want. We can choose the furniture and the decorations. But the house mold is copyrighted like a cookie cutter. 

The fixed point exists on earth space and in brain space, or how it stands in my mind. Herein lies the difference between the fixed point and the versed point. The versed point does not necessarily have a designated place on earth. I consider a versed point to be any embodiment of home. For example, the smell of yellow roses (fresh pancakes, humidity, tortillas) could be someone's versed point. Someone walks to work and the scent unlocks a memory of their family, of a home. For this person, the smell is a window into home as the brain remembers it. A versed point does not beget coordinates or an address; it is a portal into the uni-verse of the individual that re-verses time and trans-verses space. Versed points are transition spaces. 

The versed point does not have to be a cluster of particles in the air. The versed point can be a feeling, a pet, or a book. A person can be a versed point. People can remind other people of home; they can exude the feeling of warmth and bedtime routines. I know I have people in my life that make me feel at home, whether we're separated by 11 miles or having dinner at a local cafe. This is nothing new. Positive or negative, most of us can remember a fixed and a versed point of home. 

While I was away from my fixed point, I realized that my own body could also be versed. There were days when I felt like I didn't have a fixed home anymore. I was sleeping on a couch or someone else's bed, carrying around my clothes and toiletries in a backpack and in plastic bags. My body was a constant home. I had no fixed location, and so I was a versed point. The body cannot be overlooked. This incredibly difficult week reminded me that my body was all I had when I took my first breath. It is all I will have when I take my last. Somewhere between those two fixed points--first and last inhale--I put on Converse and a jean jacket and got caught in the wave of fake homes and fast fashion. Should we care so much about where we live? Not really. My grandma always said that it didn't matter where you live, as long as you keep it clean. How much house space does one person need? Oh look, we have a 1,000 square foot space--how many humans can we cram into this space and how can we charge them disgustingly high prices? I mean we spend so much of our income on housing. I'm sorry, I didn't know I had to pay to exist. With our current state of housing availability and affordability, the concept of fixed homes is becoming more narrow. I don't know if I'll be able to afford a fixed home some day. I don't know what my future fixed point will look like or what my relationship with the land below it will be. But I know who my versed points are. I do not need building materials to feel, I need a hug. I do not want rent, I want a conversation. 

Let's discuss another problem with fixed homes. Not everyone has a fixed home to begin with. In March 2021, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported that more than 580,000 people experience homelessness on a single night in the United States. We cannot ignore the ways in which this affects people, especially people of color. Black and brown bodies forced to prove something to someone. Where were you born? Earth. Zoom out enough and you'll realize how cold and quiet everything really is. We only have our fixed and versed points. Homes are shelters--familiar, comfortable spaces. And yet, we play these silly games. The way our system churns out luxury apartments is unsustainable. Fixed homes are not supposed to be a luxury. They're a right of the individual. You live on this earth, you deserve a home just for breathing. Somehow, our system corrupts the idea of a home, turning it into a prize you have to reveal 'worthiness' to before you can claim it as your own. We draw districts, divide land, develop some and neglect others. At some point we need to invest in groups and organizations that offer both fixed and versed homes. An address is a fixed home. A community center, a public library, an arts and crafts event for kids, a community garden, a food pantry, close friends and family, a supportive and present support group--these are all versed points. They may or may not be places you can type into Google maps, but they certainly are manifestations of home that are necessary for any human body.  

Me: Text me when you get home
You: ...
Me: Text me when everyone has their basic needs
You: ...