The theme of this season is Home. I share what Home means to me. Each Home edition will feature the voices of women. You can also contribute your own by sending through an entry of what home means to you by filling in the form on www.alishamorenike.co
The theme of this season is Home. I share what Home means to me. Each Home edition will feature the voices of women. You can also contribute your own by sending through an entry of what home means to you by filling in the form on www.alishamorenike.co
Music by Is Seven A Gang
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Home. When I think of home, I think of safety. I think of protection. I think of warmth beyond measure. I think of all the times my mom has prepared food. And all the smells and their aromas are lifted in the space. The smell of ozi stew, the freshness of pounded, yam or ever or amala, the noise that the little popping makes when there's plantain in the, in the fryer.
When I think of home, I think of the times in which I've broken up. Because the sun has hit my face and I roll around in my bed with my feet on the floor into my slippers, I grab my bathrobe and I start swaying to the different sounds that come through when I listen to D'Angelo, the sways, the movements, the rhythms, and somehow I'm hopping around the hallway and I'm heading to my kitchen.
Still swaying, still moving, and I, and I'm there with my whistle ke, and I've got my little yogi tea with a little affirmation on the side. And yeah, that makes me feel home. The serenity, the solidity, the quietness, the warmth when I think so much about. When I think so much about home, I'm thinking about my family, thinking about my grandparents, I'm thinking about the ones I've lost, the ones that are still existing and thriving, and who I call sometimes on Sundays and who just make me laugh beyond measure, thinking about the stories that they tell.
And the parts that get lost in translation are the times I have to repeat myself on the phone because they can't quite hear me. But yeah, it's all comedy really. I think about the frustrations and the tensions that come with home, the unspoken words, the things we don't necessarily say, the trauma, the weirdness in trying to fill the gap in things that shouldn't be filled.
And then I think about what it means to recreate, to feel like you've been immersed in this space of so many people who've carved out spaces for you, who've supported your growth, who when you were so young, you were brought up by this village of incredible people. And you look through these photo albums, them loving life in the eighties.
And even the nineties cool collective vibe that they all had, and you can see it through their images and their pictures, through all the little house parties they had, through their smiles, through all the laughters. I think home has the power to empower and inspire. I think home can make you feel safe, and I don't think that.
Safety can be faked. I think when you are in a space where you feel safe, you are energized to feel like you can actually do so much in this world, that you can create change where you can feel like your utmost, your utmost. I don't know, like your happiest as a foundation. I feel like you have that kind of space to just be and exist and thrive.
And so when I think about home, I do think about my mom's cooking. I do think about the warmth in my friendship so we can hug it out and we can laugh nonstop on the ground and make complete fool out of ourselves. When I think about home, I think about. My loved ones, those that are pass and those who like my nephews and my nieces who aren't even one yet, but you can see that they're gonna be like amazing in this world.
When I think about home, I think about harmony. I think about all these joys that cannot be explained. I'm excited because once you are able to be in a space where you feel safe, once you are able to feel like home is possible, you can and you will create better spaces. I think for me, home is not just that structure.
I think it's that communion. I think it's that sanctuary. I think it's the laughters, the photos, the memories, the the ones that can't be described. No matter how many times you try and share on socials like online platforms, if you're listening to this and you are, and you know you are part of my home, thank you.
You've called so many spaces for me to thrive and you will continue to make me empowered. You will continue to inspire me. And just know that this is also for you as an appreciation. Thank you for instilling hope in me. For instilling energy in me. Thank you for having my back at times when I felt so lost.
Thank you for existing
all the topics in the season. Touch back to you. So in Seeds of Exchange, if anything in this episode, spoke to you at all. I always love hearing thoughts and expressions that can be birthed from single collective stories. As I'm on this journey to learn, heal, and design from this space, please note that this is also a personal invitation, and not everything may be relative to you.
Carving your own space is so central, whatever that may be. Remember to follow or subscribe to this podcast and you can find me on Twitter and Instagram a fork. Enjoy my Tine newsletter app, www anisha mo short hit up. It's seven A Gang on title, on Apple Music. They are the fab, fab crew, and collective whose music has been playing throughout this episode.
All right, take care.