I've been trying to write this post for a week now but I just keep getting stuck on the whole idea of family. It starts off with a simple question that the magazine above, Alphabet Family Journal, attempts to answer, 'What is family?' After pondering what initially seems like a pretty straightforward answer, my thoughts become intensely philosophical which then results in an unwelcome existential crisis followed by a feeling of detachment from everything and everyone around me.
Cheery, right?
Remember when you were in grade one and you were asked to draw or paint a picture of your family? Who/what did you actually draw? Chances are it was probably you mum and dad, siblings and a pet if you were lucky enough to have one. My family was lucky enough to get ridiculously long legs and afros in my depiction.
Fast forward two years and I was hanging on the monkey bars with a girl I just met. I was blabbing on about something to do with my mother and all of a sudden she said, 'I don't have a mother,' and I laughed and said, 'Everyone has a mother!' She did have a mother, (she was just really sick) and that made me realise that not everyone has parents in the traditional sense of the word. Deep stuff for an eight year old.
What I realised from reading Alphabet Family Journal is that a family is not only the people you are biologically related to, they are also the people who mould and shape who you are as a person. When I think about this, I realise just how many families I belong to. My own, biological family, my boyfriend's family whom I live with and my friends from primary school and high school.
And now I feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about how many people in this world care for me.
If you would also like to feel all warm and fuzzy whilst flipping through the pages of this beautiful magazine, the lovely Luisa Brimble (founder and art director of AFJ) has given me a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader of my blog here!
All you have to do is comment below with what the word 'family' means to you!
I can't wait to read your responses :)
Cheery, right?
Remember when you were in grade one and you were asked to draw or paint a picture of your family? Who/what did you actually draw? Chances are it was probably you mum and dad, siblings and a pet if you were lucky enough to have one. My family was lucky enough to get ridiculously long legs and afros in my depiction.
Fast forward two years and I was hanging on the monkey bars with a girl I just met. I was blabbing on about something to do with my mother and all of a sudden she said, 'I don't have a mother,' and I laughed and said, 'Everyone has a mother!' She did have a mother, (she was just really sick) and that made me realise that not everyone has parents in the traditional sense of the word. Deep stuff for an eight year old.
What I realised from reading Alphabet Family Journal is that a family is not only the people you are biologically related to, they are also the people who mould and shape who you are as a person. When I think about this, I realise just how many families I belong to. My own, biological family, my boyfriend's family whom I live with and my friends from primary school and high school.
And now I feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about how many people in this world care for me.
If you would also like to feel all warm and fuzzy whilst flipping through the pages of this beautiful magazine, the lovely Luisa Brimble (founder and art director of AFJ) has given me a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader of my blog here!
All you have to do is comment below with what the word 'family' means to you!
I can't wait to read your responses :)
Currently: Geelong, Australia
The word family means anywhere that makes you feel like you BELONG
ReplyDelete//kani
After reading both yours and Sam's posts about this I am really intrigued!
ReplyDeleteI've thought about it some more, and I think family is most of the people we will stand by through anything the world can throw at us, because we love them. And it's the kind of love that doesn't ever go away.
xx
Family are people around who you feel completely safe being yourself. They are people who you know that no matter how badly you screw up they will still be there for you. To me, family is something that is earned, not genetically determined.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the words of Lilo; "'Ohana' means family, and family means nobody gets left behind", which is also very true.
I liked reading this post, it made me think about things! For me, family are the people who spring to mind whenever someone mentions the word "home."
ReplyDeleteGirl! we have matching blog posts :-) I'm not entering the giveaway because I already own Alphabet journal and I would rather see someone else enjoy the beauty that lies within its pages
ReplyDeleteFamily are the people who you let dash into the bathroom really quickly to get something while you're having a shower :P
ReplyDelete