With Covid increasing our obsession with possessions, the home has never been more important. Of course, a bleak paradox is that never before have so many people been locked out for having a home to live in.
as we all take off our masks – looking ahead instead of back – it is clear that our homes seem to take on a greater significance during Covid. They have become our fortress against a hostile world. We’ve been stuck in them for longer than we’d like, and if the truth is told, we’re fed up of looking at the same four walls. Perhaps this explains why we are spying to look inside other people’s four walls in our drone.
Ask someone what home means to them, and they’ll likely tell you it’s a safe place to call your own. Our home is our castle and our refuge, the place where, when we close the hallway, we feel comfortable and at ease. A home is all about you being yourself, just like one of the RTE participants House of the Year shown.
But have many people considered home ownership as a pipe dream?
What if you can’t allow yourself to settle in in the event that the landlord pulls the plug, or you’re sharing a home with your elderly parents and desperately want to spread the word but knowing the price means they’ll stay in a long time.
Our obsession with pornography is coinciding with a moment in our history when tens of thousands of people are wondering if they will ever have a place to call their own, never mind one. “Dream house”. There are always dos and don’ts but has this ever been more clearly juxtaposed than now?
How many people will like close the door behind them and think “this is me, i’m in a place to hold me and comfort me” – but a million miles from believing it could become their reality.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make your home cozy and comfortable. Nesting is the word used for pregnant women when they are about to give birth to a baby. Perhaps Covid has made a home for many of us.
We need to feel safe in a world where a handshake could put us at risk. But there is no comfort for the tens of thousands of young people who feel trapped, stuck and frustrated with the fact that home is more of a concept than a reality.
When Dr. Rory Hearne, lecturer in social policy at the department of applied social studies in Maynooth, asked a question on Twitter about what home means for people, he received numerous replies. .
Many people talk about security, about memories, places to rest after a hard day. But others say home is where they worry and fear the most. One person talked about telling their children that home is not about place or space but about the people they are with. This is because there is no prospect of them ever owning a home.
For a generation that can’t rely on their father’s bank, home will forever be associated with worry and anxiety. These people will listen very closely to the political architects who claim to have all the answers. Putting hearts back home will be one of the biggest challenges our leaders face for a long time to come.
