Paper short abstract:

The paper mainly investigates the role of senses in the creation of the feeling of “being at home”. The author argues that such a feeling is established when sensual information are no longer the objects of attention, but become the silent entrance to further scapes.

Paper long abstract:

The paper firstly investigates for the possible realms, in which a feeling of home can take place. Based on that, the author analyzes a few cases, revealing how in order to create a feeling of being at home, the key role of senses needs to transform from being an object of attention to becoming a silent entrance to our engagement and journey through/with spaces/scapes. This means that sensorial information is no longer something one deals with alone, but rather becomes a tool to deal with the world. What is further at stake, is therefore not only a power of a particular sensation, but also the matter of their presence or absence, the timing and duration of both and finally the coordination and composition between the latter. Furthermore, a feeling of being at home may not necessarily be based on being familiar with certain sensorial information, but may also emerge due to a fluent finding-one's-way even within unfamiliar environments, practices and sensations. Thus, the paper will also discuss the issue of being at home within oneself - as a state of body-mind, regardless of the environment. All in all, it will also stir into the issue of "homeness" in terms of being-with-yourself, rather than familiarity-with-surroundings. In addition, the focus will be put on the question, whether feelings of home may only grow in time and automatically (by living), or could they also be encouraged and produced by our conscious and intentional activity.