Homeless: I'm houseless, not homeless

I had planned to watch "Nowhere to Be" this weekend, although something happened yesterday that made me feel down, I still decided to watch this unhealing film according to the original plan. The background of the story is the Great Depression. Some Americans gave up their original way of life and drove to different places to do odd jobs to make a living, and at the same time used their RV as their home to minimize the cost of living. However, the film did not have the kind of preaching that criticized reality and capital. It's not as depressing and dull as some people think. In my opinion, Nowhere is more just to show everyone that there is a group of people who live in such a different attitude from the mainstream society. This is their choice. The way of life may not be enjoyable, but it is still full of hope. In this way, perhaps another translation of Nomadland <nomad life> is more appropriate.

There is almost no clear and complete story line in the film. The heroine Fern is more like a narrator and observer who records what she sees and feels along the way. She encounters different nomads and communicates with them long or short during the journey. , bring out the stories of these people, then say goodbye to them and continue on the road. Every time I see Fern alone along an empty road or facing a vast and desolate natural landscape, I think of driving in Alberta. And a person's experience of traveling by train in Europe. Nature is not only small, but also has magical healing power. And the state of being on the road will make you stop paying attention to things like "what clothes and shoes to wear today" or It's something like "arguing with xx made me so upset", but rather focusing on what you're seeing and feeling in the moment, you'll drop your guard and talk to all sorts of strangers you run into, maybe at some point Suddenly, I have a different thinking and understanding of life and the future. The nomads who appear in Nomadland are more or less physically and mentally hurt. They choose this nomadic way of life, also through the on the way of healing and redemption.

The heroine Fern in the film made a deep impression on me, she said "I'm houseless, not homeless". There are several opportunities in the middle, Fern can choose to stop and live with relatives or people who love her She settled down there, but she refused, maybe because she was used to being on the way, she would be afraid that she would settle down and not go on the road. Thinking of two sentences, "This place is my hometown", and the other one is "A house is not a home". A comfortable and spacious home, a regular and decent job, some extravagant material comforts, approval from the mainstream of society, some stable social relationships, these are important to most people. However, There are also people whose meaning and pursuit of life, their sense of happiness and satisfaction, are not based on these things. When the mind is so strong that it no longer depends on or rests on a life model within the framework of a traditional value system, What you get is true freedom of the soul, which is probably what I understand as nomads.