At home at heart

"Why is home important to you?

When you hear the word “home”, you can’t help but immediately think of the phrase: “Home is where the heart is.” – no matter how cheesy it may seem. For most of us, home is where we were born. Home is language, culture, and everything that has shaped your identity, character, attitudes, and World views.
For Münster-based Florian, 25, home is Münster. He grew up here. It’s the place he thinks of when he’s far away, the place he might feel pangs of homesickness for, and where he loves coming back to. Florian believes that people today label a place “home” much more quickly than they used to. “This may be due to globalisation, with everything now within easy reach and always available online.”
In 2014, he traveled the world for nine months looking for other people from Münster. He ended up finding 25 Münster natives and reported on these encounters in a video blog. Florian did this in an attempt to link his hometown to its many small hometowns throughout the world, trying to determine what people’s origins actually mean to them.
And for Generation25 in Germany, home also means a place where you feel comfortable, where you simply feel at home; the place where family and friends live.
“Home is the place where you feel comfortable and you consider your home,” writes Denis. And Nils, also 13, says: “Home is where you prefer to spend your time and where you always want to return to.”
“Home is the place where the things or people I love are and where I’m always welcome and feel happy.” (Marvin, 15)
Who would’ve thought that, in 2015, “home” would be so universally defined, that the feeling of being home would be so pervasive in a world whose borders are becoming increasingly fluid and that this feeling is so very firmly anchored in the hearts of these young people?
“Home is the place where you feel at home – home is the place where your heart beats hardest.” (Lukas, 16)
And for those born after 1989, home triggers a surge of warmth previously awakened by goodnight kisses under soft covers.
For Pia, home is: “When your heart pounds when you see the name of your town on the sign on the highway.”
Home also seems to be a placeholder, something you can always hold on to. Something that never disappears because it invariably belongs to you.
Louisa, 19: “Home is the place you can find even without GPS. From anywhere in the world.”
It’s difficult to choose between the countless possibilities offered by life in this world. That’s why it’s so nice that, when you’re searching for the right path, there’s always a place you can go back to. At least that’s what Tim, 18, thinks: “Having the freedom to go anywhere – yet somehow be at home.”
David, 17, calls home an anchor: “Home is your anchor in a (globalised) world that is constantly gaining speed.” Or as Nadine, 24, writes: “Home means knowing your own roots but also thinking far enough outside the box to know what home is.”
Thanks to technology, today everyone can keep in touch with their loved ones, see what the weather at home is like and find out what their friends are doing. Conversely, you can share your life in the wider world with your home in just a few minutes, no matter whether home is close by or far away. For example, Florian visited a small beach bar on the tiny island of Gili Trawangan in Indonesia, uploaded his videos and he immediately had digital company in real-time. This was unimaginable even a short time ago.
Luisa, 21, wrote: “I want the world to be my home!”

#DEUTSCHLAND25"