My belonging crisis
Sitting down during our weekly coffee shop âsit-down,â we came across a place that brought warmth to my heart. It was a small, family-run coffee shop in an Austin Tx that often feels overtaken by large corporations. Corps that take what little essence we have and commercialize it.
This coffee shop was different. It celebrated Latino roots and a family-oriented sense of community. It immediately made me reflect on my current crisis of belonging. I was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. over 10 years ago. Since then, Iâve felt distant from my roots, yet also disconnected from the place I now inhabit.
Every so often, I get small glimpses of what feels like my culturaâthe emphasis on community, connection, and the feeling of having a village that I care about and that cares about me.
This is why the phrase âni de aquĂ ni de allĂĄâ doesnât resonate with me. I donât want to feel that distance. Instead, I want to create my own space. âDe aquĂ y de allĂĄâ still doesnât fully capture it either, because I donât feel entirely from the U.S.
I am simply someone who has been away from his roots long enough to miss them, but gone long enough to not quite know how to recreate them here.
I refuse to fully accept the way of living here, and I refuse to let my cultura fade. Iâm still figuring out what that looks likeâbut I know Iâll build something that reflects who I am.