Belonging is a complex collection of emotions that may be based on the many connections an individual has with their surroundings. Through my interactions with the audience, I realised that a person's attachment to the environment in which they live comes not from abstract nouns but from concrete people, the landscape, the taste of food and the memory of past events.
My feelings for the community started when I felt the change of weather, when I was attracted by the flowers and plants in other people's yards, and when I talked to people in the neighbourhood, which had been rare for me over the past months. My house is surrounded by rows of townhouses of similar height, and there are a few paths that go deeper into them. As you enter, you can see different kinds of plants planted in the residents' yards and some cats and dogs lying in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. A little further in, there is a small park with some fitness and leisure facilities where people walk their dogs, rest and talk. The wind blew a few petals off the flowers as we walked across the veranda bridge next to the park. The distant sky lined with the afterglow of the setting sun added a touch of warmth to the end of this winter.
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