The O of Home Book
The O of Home by Jennifer Kavanagh
ISBN 978-1-84694-264-8. UK: £11.99; US: $24.95
Publisher: O Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing
www.o-books.com
When Jennifer Kavanagh asked people at random, “What does the word home mean to you?” answers included a house, a community, a country, family life or “within me, wherever I am”. Many said that they had never had a home or were still searching for what it meant.
The germ of The O of Home lies in Jennifer’s work with street homeless people in the late 1990s, and running a community centre in the East End of London. It was hard to believe that such poverty existed in one of the richest countries of the world. It was not until someone mentioned the word “home” that she found a way to write about not just some special group but the experience of us all.
As Jennifer explored our inner and outer identities, her awareness became more personal, and a sense of what home might be to her began to emerge.
“Home is not just four walls or the country we were born in. It is not a locked door, an investment, a legal address, or a nation with rigid borders. Home is where the heart is: a yearning for a precious past, a dream of something that has never been, or a present reality.
"Home is in relationship – with our families, in community, and with the whole of creation. The qualities of home are reflected in the circle (O), an ancient symbol for safety, equality, inclusiveness, and eternity. But we will never be at home unless we are at home to ourselves.”