there's no place like home

 Home is where we recharge after a long day at work, where we can truly be ourselves without worrying about scrutiny from our fellow peers. In this way, home truly is a special place for most of us. But due to the rise of work-from-home arrangements, home is increasingly becoming a place to work instead of remaining as a sanctuary of rest. Does this recent development render the home just a glorified office?

Over the years, home has served mankind in many different ways, the most important of these being to shelter its inhabitants. Strong wooden structures have made way for firm concrete constructions, but the materials have identical functions. They protect humans from the elements, and in doing so give them a place of refuge, where they are safe from predators and danger. As such, the modern home is likewise similar, offering modern humans a cozy den to relax and destress from a hectic day of work. For example, my apartment is home to ancient towers of bookshelves and pristine stainless coffee machines. At home, I can fully indulge in my reading, an ethereal experience that I simply cannot find elsewhere. My home, much like a cocoon, envelopes me with a sense of security and warmth that rivals a mother's embrace, something unique to the building. 

More than just a cocoon, home is a place where we can be ourselves. The walls and floors do not judges us like our peers do, after all. Being at home gives us the freedom to engage in our hobbies, and oftentimes those include our darkest fantasies. There is no incentive for pretense in the home, especially for the many who live alone. The resulting freedom can be a breath of fresh air for the everyday workers among us, after long days bent over computers in an overcrowded office. Having the space, both metaphorically and physical, to be ourselves is extremely freeing. Safe in the confines of your home, you can paint your face blue or cosplay as your favourite fictional character and nobody will know, let alone snigger at you. At home, you can pour your heart out to strangers online in an online forum or write cheesy poems and nobody will look at your screen and cringe. The home eliminates the need to conform or seek approval from peers, because there are no peers at home. For an introvert like me, this feature of a home is deeply freeing and makes it stand out like a beacon against all other spaces. 

Not only that, home is an isolated place, where we are momentarily separated from other humans. It gives us a chance at introspection and contemplative reflection, instead of usually trivial conversation. When I get home from school, the first thing I do is take a nice long shower. Inside those tiled walls, I am alone with my thoughts and free to ponder my lessons and observations from the day. Not only is this daily reflection satisfying and fun, it is also proven to be integral to long-term memory and learning. What other space, other than a home, can provide us with such blissful, serene solitude?

With the Covid-19 pandemic came a hasty update to the function of a home. It was not solely a place for relaxation and quiet reflection, no, it was now a safe bubble from the throes of the infection rampaging through the city, which made it ideal for work. Over a crackly Zoom call, frantic employers would anxiously brief their workers on a new protocol: working from home. To many, this seemed much better than being fired. But what did this development do to how people viewed their homes? At first, many people found it difficult to balance personal life and work. The work-from-home phenomenon seemed to forcefully wedge work into the peaceful monastery that was their home. I certainly was not exempted. During the Covid-19 lockdown, my school implemented Home-Based Learning (HBL). I greeted it with distaste and often procrastinated finishing my assignments in favour of playing online video games, a habit I only indulged in at home. Over time, though, I grew accustomed to the digital learning platform, Student Learning Space (SLS), and started to take HBL more seriously. HBL gave me more autonomy in the learning process, allowing me to study what I wanted, when I wanted. Overall, it was an exciting journey and opened my eyes to how fun learning could actually be. Nowadays, I see home as not only a place to relax and reflect, but also to discover new interests and expand my academic horizons. Merging my school life with my personal life at home helped me to see how the two were more similar than I thought. Integration is better than compartmentalization. After all, our life is one big pot of stew, not neatly stacked boxes of ingredients. Where's the flavour in that?

Home is a magical place, offering relaxation and security; space to express ourselves and reflect; as well as a conducive environment to nurture our passions. As time marches on and technology evolves, so will our homes. The definition of a home as a place only suited for recharging and reflecting is outdated, for the advent of the "home office" has introduced countless benefits to employers and employees alike, including more flexible work hours and higher productivity. We should embrace this update to what a home means, as it can help us live more fully in our favourite space. 

How did I plan this essay? See below for my brief notes that shaped the essay you just read!

YES: home is a place to recharge, home is where you can be yourself (no societal pressure). unlike other places, so true

NO: nowadays people work from home, so home not a place to recharge but more like an office. counter: who says that one can't be recharged by work? integrate diff aspects of one's life, home proves to be ever more crucial in our modern lives.

The paragraph on reflection sort of just wrote itself.