My all-time favorite movie is Away We Go. It depicts the
journey of a young, recently-pregnant, couple as they explore hip cities in
search of a place to reside. Ultimately, they end where Maya Rudolph (the woman
in the relationship) began., her deceased parents’ house on windy shore. When I
first watched the movie, it set with me like a wishful romance that I wanted my
life to one day become. Most recently, when I’ve thought about the movie, I’ve
seen it in an entirely different light.
There’s something powerful about going back to where you
came from.
When I was in Haiti, I was envious of the Haitian-Americans
who were working in the homeland of their parents, returning to their home to
empower the community. I was envious because their ties to the country ran far
deeper than mine ever would, they were innately connected.
As a teacher in South Texas and, now, as a librarian on Pine
Ridge, I ambiguously beg my students to leave, learn the stories of others,
absorb the knowledge provided by independence and experience, and then come
back. Come back to transform your community, to empower individuals, to lead,
to tell a different story.
Oddly, though, whenever I considered this idea of return for
myself, I scoffed.
Mitchell (South Dakota
in general) is too small for me.
There aren’t jobs for
me
What would I do for
fun?
I would be selling
out, settling prematurely if I were in South Dakota
Now that I’m back in South Dakota, that I’m frequently able
to sneak home to Mitchell, I’m flirting with the idea of, perhaps, residing
here. At least for a little bit. I feel connected at home, connected to people
who initially poured into me and connected to the stories that authored my life
after I left home. I feel potential power, power to mobilize a community, power
to pursue the things I’m passionate about, power to make amends with the petty
pits that at, one time, made me hate home.
I have no idea where I’ll “end” up, but I am warming up to
the idea of solidly returning to where I came from, returning to place I first
learned
Love.
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