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Living in my seventh house by the time I was 28, I've often wondered what it feels like for those who've stayed in the same residence for all of their remembered life. You see, to me, the memories of each area I lived in (especially growing up), each set of friends, neighbours, and experiences, is almost like having lived several alternate lives when I think back on them. To someone who's always lived in the same house, I'd imagine it's an entirely different scenario.
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I wonder if their perception of time matches my own, as having stayed in one place all their life, does their childhood seem to have passed faster or slower to them, not having consisted of separate 'epochs' in the way that mine has? As I explained in another post, regardless of whether I lived somewhere for one year, four years, or seven years, when I think back, it just doesn't feel as if I resided longer in one place than I did another. Consequently, having lived in five houses before I was 14 - for what seems like equal duration - the impression that I've had five distinct childhoods is perhaps more understandable than it would at first appear.
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However, if you've been in the same house all your life, you only have memories of growing up against the backdrop of one place to reflect on in later life. So - does your sense of time, uninterrupted as it was in comparison to mine, operate on the same level? I don't suppose I'll ever know, but the subject fascinates me. As I said in a previous post, I have a tendency to imbue a sense of the profound into the most trivial of concepts - perhaps this is just one such occasion.
If anyone has any thoughts on the matter, then feel free to share them in the comments section.
I stayed in one house- my dad's house- for the first twenty-one years of my life, so that definitely feels like a distinct "epoch".
ReplyDeleteI then rented a room in seven different flats over the next decade but I only stayed in two for more than one year. So that marks two more epochs (aka the late 80s and the early 90s)
I've paid a mortgage on two further flats in the East End of Glasgow but the first- for eight years-feels like only one! That leaves the flat I rent out now in Glasgow and this one in Elgin. So the total stands at five epochs, emotionally speaking.
By the time I was thirteen and a half, I was in my fifth house, so my childhood really does seem split into five equal portions, even 'though it's an illusion. Strange how the mind plays tricks on one's perceptions, eh?
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was in the RAF - this is back in the days you blog about - (before Britain was kicked out of the rest of the world!) and I remember distinctly being aware that each move was different. I counted them and got a shock how many houses I stayed in.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is 54 and has lived in the same house all his life having been born there. His books from childhood have almost sunk into the bookshelves they were placed on in the 60s! Now THAT to me is weird
BTW Your 'trivial' is interesting
It must be like living in a time capsule for your friend. I'm almost slightly envious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting.
As a kid I always liked the idea of staying in the same place, but like a few folk my parents moved house quite a few times and had 7 houses by the time I was 25 (although I had my own place at 20 onwards but I did stay with them now and then when in between houses/flats) strangely all 7 houses were about 15 miles away from each other almost in a straight line (from Cambuslang to Stonehouse for those that know the area)I went back to my 2 "main" childhood homes about 5 years ago and despite being gutted and moving at the time I was so glad my parent moved as they seemed so small and the years had not been kind to them - including my 7 houses with my family you can add a further 10 to that number that I have lived in (from Glasgow to London to Kenya - last one was only for 5 months but looks cool lol)- with me staying 11 years (so far) in my current house - but I still consider my first 3 houses with my family as "home" -awwwww - McScotty
ReplyDeleteI had originally intended my post to be more comprehensive than it turned out, addressing some of the things that you touch upon in your comments, McScotty. I'll be developing the theme first chance I get.
ReplyDelete