And again, we came to this subject.
What is home to you? A teapot. A laundry basket. A towel. A pillowcase. All the things I dont "need". But they are "ME" somehow. They allow the small moments in life when you can stop for a moment and drench in the relaxation of doing nothing, the kind of experience you only get from home, from somewere you feel secure.
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This autum I started a new project in Germany.The title is Doppelleben(Double life),which focuses on people with a need of travelling between two places, commuters, or even a need of frequent role switching-like work/life.
For me, the time spent on the road is like a vaccum space between to dimensions. Some people just want to take a rest from the daily routine and soak into silence. Some want to be occupied by conversations and new acquaintance. Or it is just a slow adjustment, both over space and over time, between two modes. The slower the process is, the more prepared you will be for "the new mode".--Divergency 1 Under this topic, many people tend to dig into the situation of mobility. The needs or the problems we meet on the situatuon of having some stuff in one place, and some in the other, and how we manage to balance the commuting life and the life settled down. --Divergency 2 I am interested the distinguishment of the two lives and the consequence of that. Especially the psychological effect of one man with divided lifestyles. The contradiction could be fierce in some cases. So problem of identity appears. --Divergency 3, the one I am aiming for, which is hard to find a way in. Emotional dependence(objects and people) Tell a story like it is(expression)/provide a solution I interviewed someone who has pretty similar experience like me. He is also far away from home studying abroad. The distance between the two places is the main thing that caused this division of double life. Being faraway from family in a total different culture, in a long distance relationship, all he can do is going back home once or twice a year. How do you manage personal belongings everytime going back to China? Just take the basic necessities(towels tooth brushes etc.) Buy the rest. How do you manage when being in one place trying to control things happening in the other? Usually deal with it later when I get back. If I have to I'll ask some friends to do it for me over the phone. Plan for the trip or just go? Always plan. But just schedule the trip-when to take off and when to come back. No plan for the things happening inbetween. Which items have you forgotten last time? Keys Which usefull objects do you like to take with you during comuting? Headphone cushion Do you prefer to comute alone or together with other people? Travel with someone I know. Some friends. So we have time to chat. Otherwise, I dont want to be disturbed by other people. I will take a rest during the time. Just spend the time doing nothing. Is there a object/item you always have with you? Photo of my girlfriend and family. Which I dont really "need". Do you like commuting? Do you like long time travelling? Yes. I dont think it wastes my time. 27, twice a year, long distance relationship. Our interview is conducted more like a random chat. During the time he expressed his fond of commuting. The commuting time between Europe and China is quite long-more than 10 hours. And the travel time between his city and his girlfriend's city is 2 hour. He does'nt travel too often though. He think the time spent on the road is precious, which he uasually use to rest and think about other stuff, just to relax. I think maybe this commuting time/empty space between two lives is crucial from someone, to prepare psycologically for another kind of life.--reflection 1 When asked about what kind of things one cannot live without in this double life. He thinks the best state of life is that there is nothing you can live without. One can just travel with an empty bag. But in real life circumtances he claims what he always need is the camera, some books and electrical products. He said he has been used to this kind life where he can live without anything but the photos, pictures, diaries and memories. Being in this kind of double life himself, it seems like the lifestyle is already miminalizing. Trying to depend on less things but at the same time dont mind buying a lot of things that are not that necessary when settled temprorarily in one place. That means when one is in one life, he doesn;t mind buying and scraping up a lot of stuff which would cause the problem of moving. On the other hand, when the situation like moving comes, they are not that hard to be thrown away, or let's say it is easier to compromise the trouble of moving to the emotinal need of piling up stuff. In this sense, the real necessity is minimalized, but there is still need of feeling secure(in this case by piling stuff up). When a fire happens, losing stuff is not so hard to master. And you can always travel light. He thinks he can live with this kind of commuting between homeland and study for a reasonably long time and he can keep it. And he barely talks to his family about the future-whether to settle down in China or live in Europe, away from the family. Or even, moving the family in Europe. He thinks in the current state of student life, it is not the kind of prolem can be solved only by him. He thinks maybe it is possible to discuss it after a few years of working life and it is better to settle down in one place. As the sense of "home" and "homeland". He thinks it is also a concept of the relation between you can the people around. These bunch of people live close, either bound by blood or just friendship can be the reason why he calls a place "home". When leaving and arriving, there is always emotional change inside. Usually the sadness of saying goodbye can be overcomed after a some time. --reflection2 When asked if this double life changed one's personality, he thinks there's a big division between the two state of mind. Especially when back home, people cannot understand your state of life in europe, and people are talking about other thing you dont think is of importance. It is when u feel detached with the people and feeling like a different person. When the division occurs he always chooses silence. And he feels it is easy to be affected by environment and scenes. And this kind of life really effect the family situation.--reflection 3 |