This November, MHT is participating in the Miry’s List Friendsgiving Fundraising Drive. The money goes to programs that support refugee families that have been resettled in the United States. In tandem with these efforts, our clinicians are writing posts reflecting on what home means to them.
If we’re lucky, most of us can think of a place that we call “home.” Just saying the word aloud immediately conjures mental images – of a beloved apartment, a familiar city, or even a romantic partner. The feeling of comfort and security that accompanies these images is unmistakable.
It’s difficult, however, to determine when a place has truly become our home. We move to a new house, or a new city, and perhaps we begin to call that place our home shortly after we arrive. How long, though, until the word “home” makes us think of this new place instead of the house where we grew up? Maybe there’s a minimum time required. But sometimes there are instances where that process happens almost immediately. There may be others where that sense of safety and warmth never arrives, even after we’ve lived somewhere for years.
When we call some place home, it means that part of our memory rests there. A home is a place where we’ve shrieked with joy, where we’ve hurt and been hurt, where we’ve cooked and cleaned and hosted friends and fallen in love. When a place provides enough moments that make an imprint on us, that place has, in some sense, made us into somebody new. Perhaps a house becomes a home when, as a result of living there, we are a different person than we were before.
“When we call some place home, it means that part of our memory rests there. A home is a place where we’ve shrieked with joy, where we’ve hurt and been hurt, where we’ve cooked and cleaned and hosted friends and fallen in love. ”
HERE'S HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN FRIENDSGIVING WITH US:
Give! Visit our Miry’s List campaign page and make a donation. It's that simple and no sum is too small. Truly.
Follow! Be sure to follow us on Instagram and our blog throughout the month of November. We will be reflecting on what it means to be welcomed, received, and known.
Share! Help us spread the word. You can do this by sharing our social media posts or links to our Miry’s List Friendsgiving Fundraiser page.
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A little about Miry’s List:
Refugee families come to the United States seeking a safe haven from violence and persecution in their home countries. They leave behind family and friends, as well as virtually everything they own. Many Americans, seeing these families in their communities, wonder: What can I do to help? Miry's List provides a mechanism for people to directly help new arrival refugee families with the things that they need to get started in their new lives – from diapers to beds to cleaning supplies and toiletries. To learn more, visit miryslist.org.
Marguerite Maguire, MD, is a human-centered, general adult psychiatrist who has a special interest in Women’s Mental Health, particularly in health around pregnancy and hormone changes.