What is home?
Home seems like it should be simple to define, yet we use the word to describe everything from the house we grew up in to a feeling of belonging we might experience in a completely new place. Some people feel most at home in the landscape where they were born, while others find home in communities they choose or create. This complexity suggests that home might be less about physical location and more about something deeper and harder to name.
The question becomes more pressing in a world where many people move frequently, where families scatter across continents, and where economic pressures can make stable housing elusive. How do we create a sense of home when our circumstances keep changing? What do we do with the gap between the homes we remember, the homes we have, and the homes we dream of having?
Our conversation will explore:
Is home a place, a feeling, or something else entirely?
How do we create home when we can't return to where we came from?
What's the difference between the home we remember and the home that actually was?
What is home?
Home seems like it should be simple to define, yet we use the word to describe everything from the house we grew up in to a feeling of belonging we might experience in a completely new place. Some people feel most at home in the landscape where they were born, while others find home in communities they choose or create. This complexity suggests that home might be less about physical location and more about something deeper and harder to name.
The question becomes more pressing in a world where many people move frequently, where families scatter across continents, and where economic pressures can make stable housing elusive. How do we create a sense of home when our circumstances keep changing? What do we do with the gap between the homes we remember, the homes we have, and the homes we dream of having?
Our conversation will explore:
Is home a place, a feeling, or something else entirely?
How do we create home when we can't return to where we came from?
What's the difference between the home we remember and the home that actually was?
Home seems like it should be simple to define, yet we use the word to describe everything from the house we grew up in to a feeling of belonging we might experience in a completely new place. Some people feel most at home in the landscape where they were born, while others find home in communities they choose or create. This complexity suggests that home might be less about physical location and more about something deeper and harder to name.
The question becomes more pressing in a world where many people move frequently, where families scatter across continents, and where economic pressures can make stable housing elusive. How do we create a sense of home when our circumstances keep changing? What do we do with the gap between the homes we remember, the homes we have, and the homes we dream of having?
Our conversation will explore:
Is home a place, a feeling, or something else entirely?
How do we create home when we can't return to where we came from?
What's the difference between the home we remember and the home that actually was?
Conversation Catalysts
At Premise, a Conversation Catalyst is a short story, essay, film, or poem that sparks reflection and connection. It’s the shared reference point that grounds each session and opens the door to meaningful and deep conversation.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
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We examine how memory, inheritance, and place create different understandings of what makes somewhere home.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
Didion reflects on returning to her childhood home in California's Central Valley, exploring the tension between the person she has become and the family dynamics that shaped her. She examines how "home" can feel both familiar and foreign, and questions whether we can ever truly go back to the places that formed us. The essay reveals how our adult selves often feel like strangers in the landscapes of our childhood.
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"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
We examine how memory, inheritance, and place create different understandings of what makes somewhere home.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
Didion reflects on returning to her childhood home in California's Central Valley, exploring the tension between the person she has become and the family dynamics that shaped her. She examines how "home" can feel both familiar and foreign, and questions whether we can ever truly go back to the places that formed us. The essay reveals how our adult selves often feel like strangers in the landscapes of our childhood.
Conversation Catalysts
At Premise, a Conversation Catalyst is a short story, essay, film, or poem that sparks reflection and connection. It’s the shared reference point that grounds each session and opens the door to meaningful and deep conversation.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Text Set A
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
Session Description
We examine how memory, inheritance, and place create different understandings of what makes somewhere home.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
Didion reflects on returning to her childhood home in California's Central Valley, exploring the tension between the person she has become and the family dynamics that shaped her. She examines how "home" can feel both familiar and foreign, and questions whether we can ever truly go back to the places that formed us. The essay reveals how our adult selves often feel like strangers in the landscapes of our childhood.
Didion's meditation exposes the complexity of rootedness and change. She asks: What happens when the home we remember feels different from the home we find when we return? How do we reconcile who we've become with where we came from? Can we ever fully leave home, or does it always live inside us?
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
Angelou writes about the concept of home as something that transcends physical location, exploring how African Americans have had to create home in the face of displacement, discrimination, and constant movement. She examines home as both refuge and launching pad, a place of safety that also prepares us to venture into the world with strength and dignity.
Angelou's wisdom reveals home as an act of creation rather than just inheritance. She asks: How do we build home when history has tried to deny us stable places? What does it mean to carry home within ourselves? How do we create sanctuary for the next generation?
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Berry reflects on his deep connection to the Kentucky land where his family has lived for generations, exploring what it means to be truly native to a place through sustained attention and care. He examines the relationship between human beings and the land they inhabit, questioning how we can live as responsible members of a place rather than just temporary occupants.
Berry's environmental meditation challenges modern assumptions about mobility and rootedness. He asks: What does it mean to truly belong to a place rather than just live there? How does our relationship to the land affect our sense of home? What do we owe to the places that sustain us?
Text Set A
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
Session Description
We examine how memory, inheritance, and place create different understandings of what makes somewhere home.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
Didion reflects on returning to her childhood home in California's Central Valley, exploring the tension between the person she has become and the family dynamics that shaped her. She examines how "home" can feel both familiar and foreign, and questions whether we can ever truly go back to the places that formed us. The essay reveals how our adult selves often feel like strangers in the landscapes of our childhood.
Didion's meditation exposes the complexity of rootedness and change. She asks: What happens when the home we remember feels different from the home we find when we return? How do we reconcile who we've become with where we came from? Can we ever fully leave home, or does it always live inside us?
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
Angelou writes about the concept of home as something that transcends physical location, exploring how African Americans have had to create home in the face of displacement, discrimination, and constant movement. She examines home as both refuge and launching pad, a place of safety that also prepares us to venture into the world with strength and dignity.
Angelou's wisdom reveals home as an act of creation rather than just inheritance. She asks: How do we build home when history has tried to deny us stable places? What does it mean to carry home within ourselves? How do we create sanctuary for the next generation?
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Berry reflects on his deep connection to the Kentucky land where his family has lived for generations, exploring what it means to be truly native to a place through sustained attention and care. He examines the relationship between human beings and the land they inhabit, questioning how we can live as responsible members of a place rather than just temporary occupants.
Berry's environmental meditation challenges modern assumptions about mobility and rootedness. He asks: What does it mean to truly belong to a place rather than just live there? How does our relationship to the land affect our sense of home? What do we owe to the places that sustain us?
Conversation Catalysts
At Premise, a Conversation Catalyst is a short story, essay, film, or poem that sparks reflection and connection. It’s the shared reference point that grounds each session and opens the door to meaningful and deep conversation.
More conversation catalysts coming soon!
Text Set B
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
Session Description
At Premise, we’re always growing. Our sessions are shaped not only by the enduring questions we ask but also by the ideas and contributions of our participants and Chapter Leaders. We are a constructivist learning community, which means we build our learning experiences together.
More text sets for this question are on the way. Each one will follow our approach: short enough to prepare in under three hours, substantial and thought-provoking enough to spark deep discussion, and accessible to a wide audience.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you. If you have a suggestion for a story, essay, film, or poem that belongs here, please share it in the section below.
Text Set A
Preparation: < 1.5 hours
Session Description
We examine how memory, inheritance, and place create different understandings of what makes somewhere home.
"On Going Home" by Joan Didion
Didion reflects on returning to her childhood home in California's Central Valley, exploring the tension between the person she has become and the family dynamics that shaped her. She examines how "home" can feel both familiar and foreign, and questions whether we can ever truly go back to the places that formed us. The essay reveals how our adult selves often feel like strangers in the landscapes of our childhood.
Didion's meditation exposes the complexity of rootedness and change. She asks: What happens when the home we remember feels different from the home we find when we return? How do we reconcile who we've become with where we came from? Can we ever fully leave home, or does it always live inside us?
"Letter to My Daughter" by Maya Angelou (essay on home)
Angelou writes about the concept of home as something that transcends physical location, exploring how African Americans have had to create home in the face of displacement, discrimination, and constant movement. She examines home as both refuge and launching pad, a place of safety that also prepares us to venture into the world with strength and dignity.
Angelou's wisdom reveals home as an act of creation rather than just inheritance. She asks: How do we build home when history has tried to deny us stable places? What does it mean to carry home within ourselves? How do we create sanctuary for the next generation?
"A Native Hill" by Wendell Berry
Berry reflects on his deep connection to the Kentucky land where his family has lived for generations, exploring what it means to be truly native to a place through sustained attention and care. He examines the relationship between human beings and the land they inhabit, questioning how we can live as responsible members of a place rather than just temporary occupants.
Berry's environmental meditation challenges modern assumptions about mobility and rootedness. He asks: What does it mean to truly belong to a place rather than just live there? How does our relationship to the land affect our sense of home? What do we owe to the places that sustain us?