8 Comments

This is so so beautifully written. I'm in love with your ending and how you tied it all together. "Some parts endure while others have an appetite to bend". I think it's the thought of something in us having an "appetite to bend" that I really love. I'm obsessed with the word choice.

Anyway lol, I also really relate to this entire piece. While I still live in my hometown/city, I've been doing a lot more traveling in the last year, and every time I see that California coast, especially the sunsets, something in me aches with happiness/joy/relief (?). I never realized how much of myself is tied to those beaches, sunsets, palm trees, etc. until I started leaving home for extended periods of time. Thank you so much for sharing. This really spoke to me <3

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So glad you enjoyed it Summer 🫶🫶 I was actually inspired to write this piece after a friend of mine told me she associates the beach/sand/ocean with home. I was thinking about how different my perception of home is and how we seek out different settings for comfort based on where we come from. I think it’s really sweet how people search for home wherever they are <3

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Madison Huizinga

I’m from Virginia but moved to California 2.5 years ago--extraordinarily similar experience, just opposite direction! I’m at a point where I need to make decisions that will affect where I end up long term and have been trying hard to make sense of this rootlessness--this was a great way to describe it, thank you!

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Glad to hear it resonated with you Katherine :) and glad to hear I’m not alone! It’s inspiring to know there are multiple places that can feel like home

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Madison Huizinga

That’s such an uplifting way to put this, thank you!

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Nov 26, 2023Liked by Madison Huizinga

Very well said.

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i’m also from seattle but now in NY (currently back in seattle right now for the holidays), and so much of this resonates. It’s the landscape and the nature that i often miss the most; the evergreens, the mountain, the puget sound, the fog. I struggle so much with straddling the coasts, and making sense of not fully belonging anywhere. But i’m glad that you’re holding onto the PNW in you; i tried to ignore it for a while, but you can’t really get rid of essential parts of yourself like that without losing yourself along the way.

It’s nice to know that i’m not alone in thinking about these things!

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Wow! Sounds like our experiences are very similar - I struggle with being away from nature the most too. You’re definitely not alone in feeling this way! Finding ways to connect to home in other places has been healing

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