Does Home Matter to You? + Learning to See Place by Sherrie Flick

How important is home to you? And what does home mean to you? Is it a place? Is it where you were born? Or where you grew up? I grew up moving every four months to two years. As a writer, it gave me lots to contemplate and lots to write about. (Click here to read about my novels here.)

By the time I was 15 I had attended eleven schools, lived in 18 apartments, 11 schools, 13 cities, spread out over 2 countries. So for me, home is people more than place. By that, I don’t have a lot of sentimentality about “family“ defined by genetics, because that’s not where I’ve found the most acceptance. For me, genuine family are the people to whom I can reveal anything, yet they’ll still root for me -– and in the same way, I’ll do that for them!

The actual town I live in, Lakewood, California, is so wonderful that I’ve come to regard it as home as well! Years ago, when I lived in nearby cities, I actually felt sorry for coworkers who lived here! At the time, it was known for being conservative and homogenous. Fortunately, it’s evolved into a wonderful example of diversity and open-mindedness. On my block alone, I have kind neighbors from all walks of life, all parts of the world, and all beliefs. Like the rest of the country, Lakewood has plenty of room for improvement, but we’ve I’m so very proud of the strides we’ve made over recent decades.

Our local TV channel, which covers local city council meetings and the rest of what’s going on locally, recently…