06/11/2026
Home sweet home 🏠✨
This year felt really different. For the longest time, I kept wondering where home was. I used to think home is where your people are or where your parents raised you. But when my father passed away, that changed and the idea of a safe space disappeared. I was living at my own accomodation in Kuala Lumpur and was surrounded by great friends, but little did I know, back home, things were rapidly changing. The country I spent the first 18 years of my life became a travel destination, and the childhood home I always knew was no longer there to return to. The older I grew, this feeling grew even stronger. Soon after I came to The Netherlands, adulting hit me. Like any immigrant I had to get used to everything from scratch. The culture, the language, visa, taxes, job search, housing, loneliness, new friends and so so much more.
Somewhere between building furniture, and making a big cup of chai in a quiet kitchen, the definition of a home shifted. Home wasn’t anymore a place left behind, but it was this life I was piecing together. It was the morning sunshine on my living room floor, making late-night ramen, finding the right lamp for my bedroom, playing video games until the sun was out, doom scrolling in bed and letting the stillness of the evening feel cozy instead of cold. Every corner here feels earned and spending time here with the people I love makes it even more special.
Abbu would have loved seeing me build this life. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder what he would have to say and to honour him, I’ll keep striving to give myself the peace, warmth and calm he’d want me to have. Home sweet home. 🌃
