Home is where the heart is.
Whether this cliché phrase is cross-stitched into your grandmother’s scratchy sofa cushions or you’ve seen it shared on Facebook alongside a stock photo of a thriving family, the world seems to think that your home is where your heart is — but what does that really mean?
As college students, we have already witnessed a number of changes throughout life. Moving away from home has the potential to make a colossal impact on you. Different states, different cities and even different countries are all represented in our campus housing facilities. And even if you live at home in the greater Houston area, you’ve still seen the degree of freedom that comes with attending a university and all it entails.
The four walls that you grew up in are likely not the same four walls you find yourself in now. Houses and homes come and go, as evidenced by the rise and fall of real estate markets and the short-lived doom of housing crises. High-rise apartments, dormitories, two-bedroom row houses and mansions are all spaces crafted for the specific purpose of inhabiting them. But they are just space until you move in, and that is when they venture to become something more.
The one thing you won’t leave behind when you merge into the adult world is who you are — the core of what makes you a unique individual does not stay stationary when you are on the move. Whatever makes you want to paint your bathroom walls pink, cover your ceiling with David Bowie posters or have 10 cats running around the place is all a part of the heart.
You are the heart behind your home.
I think that’s what this phrase is trying to say: that the walls and space surrounding you, wherever you chose to live, are blank for a reason. Enjoy discovering your first apartment and get excited about personalizing your dorm room. And unless you hire a professional interior designer from HGTV (in which case you’re probably not in college), your place is your space, and what you make it is up to you.
As you flip through the pages, I hope this issue of Cooglife inspires you to make your living space your own — even if that entails cross-stitching a scratchy couch pillow similar to one at your grandmother’s house.
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