I really enjoyed this talk and appreciated what Melody had to say. It gave me much food for thought about how I can become more engaged and contribute to my community.

Very interesting and important aspects about a feeling of belonging somewhere and how to create that. A great eye opener for me who has moved places and countries so often.

Thank you for reminders on how one can feel at home wherever one is:)

I found your talk inspired me to look at my life and see how moving presented me with an opportunity to try out new behaviors with people and groups that did not know me. Many people come from traumatic homes even if the location was nice. I escaped that home environment by reading a lot about traveling and finding our about other places – countries, states, cities, towns. When I went away to college I learned about the location and college environments and decided to choose to work on a new behavior – to be more open and interactive with new classmates and my college and town and made a few friends and did what they did to find out what I liked or did not like, took a job in the snack bar at the dorm where I knew people.and it worked. Each time I moved I chose a new behavior because I had such poor self esteem but it kept improving. But as a nurse I became a caregiver that also improved self esteem but widened self understanding and showed me I had gifts and talents that gave me self confidence. It also caused me to live places to care for elderly family members that were in environments I did not particularly like and was stuck in. It forced me to use my free time to find groups I liked nearby and participate – a church that was not rigid, was friendly and had a choir I could join, a local garden club. I am now in a town in Florida and of an age that makes it unlikely I will move again. I was never interested in Florida but was initially able to find work I enjoyed and a Unity Church where I could sing in the choir, and a Zen center not far away and a Buddhist book study group, and a local native plant group. In two of these I did the newsletter and due to requests of members to tell them where to take their relatives who always wanted to visit them in FLORIDA, especially in the winter. My last caregiving was my only child, a son who had been an alcoholic and an addict whom I brought here when he got cancer and died within 3 months. It left me heartbroken and I knew I had to do something – take care of me. For the first time I became more closely engaged in my town, with events, places and activities I enjoyed, Spending more time with shopkeepers who had been here a long time, especially the local health food stores and local gardens. I have limited finances and decided to stop buying food online because that was credit card expense. One was willing to add additional items to their inventory from vendors who made items without my allergy triggers. I found what my town did best which was support the development of local gardens and take empty land and make land available for members of the town who live in apartments and condos to have a plot of land to grow their own food. I bought/supported the local gardens and found that they were saving Heirloom seeds and was able to provide them with the info I had received about joining a national network of seed savers to be sure our country had a supply on Non-GMO seeds and discuss setting up community meetings to make newcomers to the town aware of the healthy food options available and others aware of how they can feed their children better food than what is advertised on TV. Your presentation yesterday made me aware that there is a pre-stage for this that involves helping people how they can learn new behaviors and let go of old unhealthy ones from their traumatic backgrounds and could be part of another book. This process can help them to use some of the practices of learning to attach to places that will help them both find or discover nearby locals/groups that will provide them a way to practice the new behavior and gain friends/models of that behavior who becomes a support. Recovery from early trauma is a very long term process which we all want to have NOW and acceptance takes time. I was in my 40’s before involvement with a Sufi community and then a Buddhist community helped me to focus on self care and self acceptance as the key to change which was only available in the present moment. And the work continues but one can also be happy and joy in the present moment. I enjoyed your presentation immensely and the associated research reports helps validate the why’s of trying different practices. It may not convince skeptics but you cannot make everyone happy!! It can convince those who are willing to try changing behaviors and practices.

Wherever my wife and I have lived, w have always tried to encourage local flora and fauna thrive in our property, usually adjacent to parks and reserves. Nature is the most important factor welcoming us home. We volunteer and those associated compassionate people as well as fellow athletes(surfing, tennis, boxing, hiking) also make us feel home. Our 16 year old dog is home. We feel home meditating. Plain plant based whole food and those associated are home. Things are not home. We are minimalists and repair what we need for function and not replace.

Lovely, sweet, touching presentation and Producer. Thank you! I did find myself a little sad that social class and finances were not given enough consideration. When $1 is a lot of money, sometimes trying to pay $3 more for something local, or if one has no transportation to go out, is out of reach. (Yes, there are cabs and Lyft, etc. They take actual money, not pennies.) The wonderful stories touch my heart I am grateful to both of you for the enthusiasm, the stories when stories are invaluable, and knowing how little I understood poverty without having lived it giving compassion for not seeing that aspect of others’ lives. Thank you again, and I am grateful for your work, love, and gifts. You enrich my life lived ialone in the suburbs since widowed and not driving, while the other side is loving solitude, loving the animal connections of both feral cats I feed and wild animals like foxes and raccoons, loving to read, loving to write, and loving being here. May we all be kinder to ourselves and each other.