I have been reflecting on my home of birth recently more than usual and often dream of events which happen to unfold in this house or random rooms of this house. I dream of houses a lot, one reoccurring dream is where I discover a room in my house (past or present) which I didn’t know was there. It’s terrifying even though it’s just a domestic space but in my dream I always shut the door and bolt it shut and forbid anyone from entering. Another reoccurring dream is that I return to a house that we (my ex husband and myself) have previously lived in, there have been many. I use my own key, there is nobody at home but whilst I am looking around at the familiar and unfamiliar the new owners return and I am trapped in an upstairs room. Very strange.

So two things happened …

Laura was telling me about a book by Rebecca Solnit ‘A Field Guide to Getting Lost’ and a particular extract where Solnit talks about a reoccurring dream in which she returns to the home of her childhood and retraces her steps in strange scenarios. Coincidently Chris Cook had recommended this book to me a year ago in a tutorial but I disregarded it as not really relevant to my practice at the time.

Then I was looking at an online property search for no reason in particular and there it was…the home of my childhood and place of birth. I scrolled the pictures online but it wasn’t fulfilling my need to be inside the space so I called the agent and made an appointment to see inside. So to cut a long story short (for now) I searched for carpentry, light fittings, carpet remnants and clues left behind, evidence of my family. There was so much in the bones of the building and its contents. I was able to take photos as the occupier has sadly passed away so nobody lives there now. The whole experience was both memories and dreams blended together.