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   Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 07:48:39 JST Evan Prodromou

   This was a good poll. Lots of interesting comments.

   I'm a qualified yes. I love my home and my community in Montreal and my second home in Richmond the Eastern Townships, but I'm a settler on indigenous land, and we haven't figured out how that can be a just situation yet.

   I'm also far from my parents and brothers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and my extended family in New Jersey.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 07:52:17 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     And I'm *very* far from my father's and grandfather's and great-grandfather's birthplace in Jerusalem. I've only visited once.

     I'm far from their origins in Athens, Crete, and Greek-speaking Asia Minor.

     As well as my mother's family's origins in Ireland, Wales, England, The Netherlands, and Germany.

     I feel like I have set down roots here in Montreal in these last 20 years, but I have homes too many other places to not feel restless.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 07:56:54 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I really loved this book when I read it. It's a great study of what it means to belong somewhere.

     https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20030213W/This_is_where_you_belong?edition=key%3A/books/OL27210260M

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 07:58:19 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     Deciding where you live on this planet is a huge privilege. Most people don't get to choose. The globe isn't a Tinder app they can swipe left and right on.

     I'm glad I and my kids have a lot of optionality, but that comes with some pressure to make the right decisions.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 08:03:42 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     The advice I gave my 17-year-old daughter is this: keep a base here in Montreal, and visit other places as much as you can. Live in them temporarily for months or even years. But keep this place as your home.

     My kids both grew up here their entire lives. I feel like that was a big gift we gave them. I hope they know how important it is to keep it, and I hope they never feel stifled by it.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 13:22:39 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Dave ✨

     @davidgarywood nice. New Zealand is a good home for wonderful people.

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     Dave ✨ (davidgarywood@social.davidgarywood.com)'s status on Sunday, 19-Mar-2023 13:22:41 JST Dave ✨

     in reply to

     @evan we emigrated as a family from the UK to NZ, living here now since 2017.

     We’ve had a fair amount of privilege in being able to do so. It has also been hard work, and yes, a pressure to be sure about what we were doing, especially for our kids !

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@prodromou.pub)'s status on Monday, 20-Mar-2023 13:13:21 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • rail enthusiast wife Daria

     @dariaphoebe I shared this link before. It might be an interesting read for you!

     Maybe the fact that you don't feel like you particularly belong anywhere could be freeing?

     Like, if you don't feel like you particularly belong anywhere, then there's no place that's better than where you're at?

     Just a thought, hope it helps.

     https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20030213W/This_is_where_you_belong?edition=key%3A/books/OL27210260M

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     rail enthusiast wife Daria (dariaphoebe@mindly.social)'s status on Monday, 20-Mar-2023 13:13:22 JST rail enthusiast wife Daria

     in reply to

     @evan I didn’t answer because I feel like there is nowhere I belong, anymore, if there ever was.

     I just keep trying to do the best I can, where I am, even across multiple attempts at starting anew in a place where I felt like I might have support.

     Maybe this time, maybe this is the one. But I have no faith this will be where I belong.