“don’t think. it complicates things. just feel, and if it feels like home then follow its path.” ― R.M. Drake

In 2015, I moved from Northwest Arkansas to the bustling city of Boston. I had felt strongly that that was where I was supposed to be. However, after three years in the city, it felt like it was time to move on. I questioned whether I needed to move on to another city (perhaps LA, try out the West Coast?)… or if I was meant to return home to Arkansas.

I hesitated at the idea of moving back home. Maybe that was a step backwards. There certainly weren’t many opportunities to help me realize all my various endeavors I was pursuing. And yet… the more I looked elsewhere, the more right moving home felt.

And so, in 2018 I decided it was time to return to the place I grew up. Within the year, I found the perfect house for me. I found love. And I found a job I enjoyed (for the first time ever)! And as all of this began to sink in, and I felt that there was more I could be happier about with each passing day, I realized that I had finally found home again. And so the idea for this scene was born.

My family moved a lot growing up, and if I’ve learned anything, you can have that feeling of “home” in so many incredible (and crazy) places. What I have also learned, though, is that sometimes it doesn’t always feel like home… and sometimes it takes a little bit of adventuring and difficult times in between before you find the place you’re meant to be.

And while it can sometimes feel a long ways off, like it’s all just a dream, when you DO find home, it’s the most fantastic, comforting, warm feeling ever.

Now, like every scene in my Passages series, this scene has quite a few symbolic elements:

• The lavender in her hands represents the peace we feel at home
• The basil leaves in her hair and in her bouquet represents love
• The soft, pastel processing of the photos represents how home can feel like it’s just a dream sometimes
• The eclectic assortment of fabrics used in the costume represent how home isn’t something you just buy, it’s something that is gathered and collected over time
• Finally, the beaded and embroidered trim used in various places in the costume were clippings from old sari’s my mother purchased while we were living in India. To me, they are a reminder that home can be in some of the craziest places (like India), as long as the ones we love are there with you

To tie it all together, these images were shot in the field across from my house. This is the very first home I purchased, and so to have it featured in some of the images felt like the perfect symbol to include. I know it will always remind me that home is not about the location or even the building itself. It’s about the journey that gets you there, the feelings you have when you enter, and who you get to share it with.