05/09/2026
I’ve been thinking a lot about a quote by Maya Angelou:
“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
As a first-generation American, that ache feels especially sharp lately. With everything happening in Iran, I find myself grieving a place I’ve never even stepped foot in, the land my parents had to leave behind. At the same time, I’m raising a family of my own, learning how to be a mother while trying to build a sense of home from pieces I inherited, imagined, and am still figuring out. I miss the feeling of home more than I can explain. I don’t have a childhood home to return to, or physical memories tied to where my family came from. And as my elders grow older, I feel a quiet panic about losing the parts of my culture that live only inside them— the stories, the accents, the recipes, the mannerisms, the unspoken things no one thinks to write down until it’s almost too late.
I’m learning that my sense of home exists in moments:
In the familiar warmth of a good laugh with my siblings.
In the friendships I’ve cultivated who have became family across different eras of adulthood.
In the taste of Persian food.
In Persian music playing softly in the background.
In hearing Farsi or a Persian accent from strangers on the street and instantly feeling less alone.
I felt it last night too — in a room full of strangers singing original songs, connected by the depths of our collective identity. For a few hours, we shared humanity, longing, and history without any discussion of it— only through movement, music, and magic.
I’m beginning to understand that home is never going to be a place for me.
Maybe home is the feeling of being recognized. Of being understood without explanation. Of seeing pieces of yourself reflected back by people you may never meet again.
While my version of home can never be tied to any one place, my feeling of home comes from sharing a core sense of identity and being truly seen— no matter how fleeting or fragile, even if only for a moment.
I am so grateful I got to be a part of this space yesterday 🤍
