My House (at the Corner of My Street)
Avid or long time readers will have realized a few things about my living situation.
1) I am in college, and as such live on a college campus.
2) But not in a dorm. Oh no!
3) I live in a big lovely hundred-year-old house with 24 of my dear friends, siblings of a co-educated society something like a frat, if frats tended to be geeky and sex positive instead of jocky and skeezy (by "tend to be" I mean "stereotyped as" here).
We are a house full of dramatic people who care about each other, about the house, about how each other care about the house, etc. We talk a lot. My job this semester, an elected position in the house, is making sure that when we talk to each other, we hear each other. That we can be remain kind and understanding to each other even when we feel hurt or angry. That emotions between the members of the house stay smooth and even, so we can be the siblings we've all pledged to be.
It's kind of a bitchy job, and it keeps me up late, but I love it.
Recently Sarah, a friend of Estra's and burgeoning blogger, came to this house.
Reading her impressions of the place this morning made me smile. It's rare that I get to hear the thoughts new people have on a place like this. Like all major organizations, the house has a bit of a reputation around campus, and so one can't exactly get a fresh and unbiased opinion from someone on the campus at large. And besides, my little school is a bubble itself, already warped to see the world one way when it might look another.
But this sweet lady was new, and I am overjoyed to see that, at least if you are looking for it, there's a lot of good to be found in my place. We are a group of very physical people. We make it clear to each other that touching, hugging, cuddling is ok. If you're dating, it's ok. If you're friends, it's ok. If you're dating somebody else, it's ok. This point that Sarah found so nice is a lot of what is getting us a bad rap in the world at large (and by the world, I mean the campus, here).
That makes me sad. I worry that I'll go out into the world and not be able to hug friends, or snuggle up with them for videos, or all the other things I do to show love-comfort-happy. But this lady, she gives me hope. She from the cold and windy midlands of the nation comes saying "Hey, I like this!". If she likes it, the rest will follow.
A nation of physical affection. A world that communicates with touch.
One house at a time.
(Mine first).
1) I am in college, and as such live on a college campus.
2) But not in a dorm. Oh no!
3) I live in a big lovely hundred-year-old house with 24 of my dear friends, siblings of a co-educated society something like a frat, if frats tended to be geeky and sex positive instead of jocky and skeezy (by "tend to be" I mean "stereotyped as" here).
We are a house full of dramatic people who care about each other, about the house, about how each other care about the house, etc. We talk a lot. My job this semester, an elected position in the house, is making sure that when we talk to each other, we hear each other. That we can be remain kind and understanding to each other even when we feel hurt or angry. That emotions between the members of the house stay smooth and even, so we can be the siblings we've all pledged to be.
It's kind of a bitchy job, and it keeps me up late, but I love it.
Recently Sarah, a friend of Estra's and burgeoning blogger, came to this house.
Reading her impressions of the place this morning made me smile. It's rare that I get to hear the thoughts new people have on a place like this. Like all major organizations, the house has a bit of a reputation around campus, and so one can't exactly get a fresh and unbiased opinion from someone on the campus at large. And besides, my little school is a bubble itself, already warped to see the world one way when it might look another.
But this sweet lady was new, and I am overjoyed to see that, at least if you are looking for it, there's a lot of good to be found in my place. We are a group of very physical people. We make it clear to each other that touching, hugging, cuddling is ok. If you're dating, it's ok. If you're friends, it's ok. If you're dating somebody else, it's ok. This point that Sarah found so nice is a lot of what is getting us a bad rap in the world at large (and by the world, I mean the campus, here).
That makes me sad. I worry that I'll go out into the world and not be able to hug friends, or snuggle up with them for videos, or all the other things I do to show love-comfort-happy. But this lady, she gives me hope. She from the cold and windy midlands of the nation comes saying "Hey, I like this!". If she likes it, the rest will follow.
A nation of physical affection. A world that communicates with touch.
One house at a time.
(Mine first).
posted by Switch at 11:32 AM
3 Comments:
(is without the h)
Ours too!
it is in fact without the h, and I'm really confused about who told you that first =P
it was great meeting you! people were kind, and I found the dynamic an interesting change from what I'm used to now (albeit kind of a grown-up dynamic of what I had in high school). I like how different places can all be comfortable in their own ways.
I will be back in march!
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