I discovered after my most recent instruction that I had been using the term “homesickness” throughout my project without providing a clear definition.
My personal experience of studying overseas was the primary source of my initial understanding of homesickness. I associated it with feelings of emotional “unsafe,” discomfort, loneliness, and unfamiliarity. But a straightforward topic posed a problem to me during the tutorial: Are homesickness and feeling frightened really the same thing?
They’re not, I realized.
It is possible for someone to feel quite secure in London and yet sense a sudden longing for home. However, a person may feel uneasy or insecure in a foreign location without experiencing any homesickness at all. This prompted me to go back to the start of my investigation and pose a more basic query:
Homesickness: What is it?
Missing a home is not the only aspect of homesickness.
One of the most relevant books I found through the UAL Library was Ryan Hediger’s Homesickness: Of Trauma and the Longing for Place in a Changing Environment (2019).
The connection between homesickness and location is what drew my attention to Hediger’s method. Home is more than just a structure we wish to go back to. Familiar locations, surroundings, memories, bodies, language, and our material past are all linked to our bond with home.
This altered my perspective on the term “home.”
What precisely are people missing when they remark, “I miss home”?
It may be their family, but it could also be their bedroom, the food they used to eat, the fragrance of their clothes, the humidity of a city, the sound of a certain language being spoken nearby, or the sensation of touching an item they’ve had for years.
This implies to me that being physically far from home is not the sole factor contributing to homesickness. It may also be a want for a comfortable interaction with our surroundings.
Being here but yearning to be there
I also found Hannah Collins’ A Worldwide Case of Homesickness through the UAL Library.
One concept from Collins’ work in particular stuck with me: homesickness can be defined as being emotionally yearning for one place and time while physically being in another.
This definition describes a contradiction, which is why I find it helpful.
A part of me is somewhere else, yet my body is here.
This may be sitting in a London bedroom and then remembering a Shenzhen kitchen for an overseas student. The person’s focus briefly shifts, but they do not physically depart London.
But there’s another issue.
It’s possible that the “home” we recall isn’t exactly the same.
Individuals evolve. Cities evolve. Families evolve. We transform ourselves.
As a result, homesickness might not always represent a wish to go back home. There are moments when we yearn for a specific, nostalgic version of home.
Can we take it home with us?
Romalyn Ante’s Antiemetic for Homesickness offered me a another perspective on this issue.
Migration, family, country, heritage, and the complex experience of belonging across cultural boundaries are all explored in her work. Her work made me consider the items migrants continue to carry from one place to another rather than viewing home as a single, fixed geographical location.
This concept seems especially pertinent to my project.
People who relocate overseas don’t come empty-handed.
They carry with them clothing, photos, cuisine, customs, languages, items, scents, and memories. Even though some of these objects can appear unremarkable, they have the power to emotionally connect two locations.
This raises the question of whether the absence of these comfortable sensory connections contributes to the onset of homesickness.
Perhaps we miss more than just home.
Perhaps we overlook the little sensory information that indicates:
I am familiar with this feeling; it is mine.
Touch, smell, and objects
This returns me to my project’s sensory focus.
Smell intrigues me since it can unintentionally evoke memories of a location. Because familiar textures and soft materials can foster physical connection, contact piques my curiosity. Because they can go with us when places cannot, items pique my attention.
Home cannot be replaced by a blanket, a toy, an article of clothing, or a comforting smell.
This distinction, in my opinion, is crucial.
My project shouldn’t make the promise that something can “cure” homesickness. Rather, I’m starting to wonder if sensory items can serve as transient links to home.
As a result, the question shifts from:
How can I prevent people from experiencing homesickness?
to:
When someone is away from home, how might an object assist them reconnect with a sensation, memory, or sensory experience?
This seems a lot more in line with what I really want to look into.
What does homesickness mean in my project, then?
I would characterize homesickness at this point as:
A person’s emotional perception of the distance between their current location and the people, places, rituals, things, and sensory memories that make their “home” seem comfortable and significant.
This term is purposefully more inclusive than “missing family.”
A person can be home.
A place can be called home.
However, home can also be an object, a ritual, a language, a scent, a texture, a memory, or a sense of familiarity.
This also means that before I ask my participants what “home” means to them, I must exercise caution.
Therefore, rather than starting with my definitions, I should start my next action research phase with theirs.
Rather than posing the question, “Do you feel safer with this object?”I would want to inquire:
What are you really missing when you’re homesick?
For you, what makes a place seem like home?
Is there a thing, aroma, or texture that makes you think of home right away?
What does it feel like to be at home when you get back?
I believe that by asking these questions, I will be able to comprehend homesickness as a lived experience rather than an assumption.
And maybe this is the most significant shift in my perspective:
I’m not attempting to create a “home” anymore. I’m attempting to figure out what remnants of home people take with them, what they leave behind, and whether design may aid in reestablishing the connection.
References
Hediger, R. (2019). Homesickness: Of Trauma and the Longing for Place in a Changing Environment. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Ante, R. (2020). Antiemetic for Homesickness. London: Chatto & Windus.
Collins, H. (1996). A Worldwide Case of Homesickness. Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art.
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