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"The right to national self-determination is not simply about the nation governing itself but also about the right of the nation to occupy its traditional geography."


"The possibility of Scottish independence must be understood in this context. Nationalism, the remembrance and love of history and culture, is not a trivial thing. It has driven Europe and even the world for more than two centuries in ever-increasing waves. The upcoming Scottish election, whichever way it goes, demonstrates the enormous power of the desire for national self-determination. If it can corrode the British union, it can corrode anything."


"this is why any theory of human behavior that assumes that the singular purpose of humans is to maximize economic benefits is wrong. Humans have other motivations that are incomprehensible to the economic model but can be empirically demonstrated to be powerful. If this referendum succeeds, it will still show that after more than 300 years, almost half of Scots prefer economic uncertainty to union with a foreign nation."

Read more: The Origins and Implications of the Scottish Referendum | Stratfor
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I found this article on the Scottish Independence movement to be quite fascinating.  Mostly because it is surprising to learn that nationalism is something that humans will choose to fight for over economic security - as is the case here. This is sort of a terrible metaphor but it reminded me of when my parents sold the house we grew up in and even though I was grown and had no plans to ever live there again a part of me was so sad to see it go.  That house is a part of who I am and even if that is sinful to love a place it is so human.  I wrote this letter to the little girl who would be moving in after me as a sort of release.  I don't think that a home is the same thing as a country.  But I do think that loving an idea can be beautiful and terrible at the same time.

Dear Hailey,

I do not remember what it was like to be 6.  I know that I already loved to read, got in trouble for talking back, and had a knack for telling people what to do and winning four square games on the black top.  So you must be more aware that people tend to give 6 year olds credit for.  It is strange to have something for so long and not realize what it means until you are forced to give it to someone else.  I never meant to possess something so hard that letting go of it would be painful.  I suppose this is human and I am not above the longings to have an identity somewhere and to look upon a place and know it for all of the things it helped create in me simply by it not changing while I was able to do so within it.  My room is empty now and soon I will move the last of the  bags to donate and will make my bed for the last time.  I was never one for making my bed and it was an endless source of conflict between my mother and I.  I urge you to act with more grace than I ever did.  Your mother is just trying to teach you to take pride in your things and your space and I spent more time arguing with her than it ever would have taken for me to simply acquiesce and make my bed.  Sometimes when you think you are winning at something you really have lost simply by choosing to fight at all.  You will be in my sisters bedroom which used to be both of ours before I moved into what was the guest room and what will be again for you.  We had twin beds with matching flower mattresses and my dad used to lay between us and hold both of our hands as we all fell asleep.  It always made me feel safe to have them both there.  I think that is why to this day I prefer to sleep in a room with others close to me than I do by myself.  I for all my bravery during the day had terrible nightmares growing up and used to wake up every night and go sleep with my parents.  This might happen to you, it only took me 6 steps to get to the hall door and then only 10 more before I was inside of their room which always made me feel safe.  I would never let my mom hold me during the day like I would at night.  One night I woke up as I always did- it was late and I feared all the things that my imagination made realer than the things around me.  I wanted so badly to get up but I promised myself that if I could make it through this night than I would be ok. I was but I always attributed it to be my canopy bed.  I loved that bed, it got stolen out of my dads office years later.  Long story how it ever ended up there.  I wish I had kept better track of things I didn't know I would want later on.  Anyhow I think that if you ever need to feel safe curtains help but really it will just take time for you to know that this house will protect you like i always protected me.  I don't think I ever properly thanked it for that.  At night I used to go downstairs after everyone was asleep and make sure the door was locked.  It always way bc my dad is as paranoid as I am.  I would leave my hand on the lock and think about all the things that that small piece of metal separated me from.  It never seemed like enough but it always was.  

I think you will learn how to kiss boys here and you will cry here.  The best place to watch the stars is on the roof.  Be careful climbing over the rail by your parents room. Then go from slat to slat until you can put your foot on the roof tiles.  They aren't that comfortable at first so I would bring a blanket to sit on.  One of the best things you will come to find is the way you feel in the kitchen.  It brings people together.  I hope you enjoy the granite island that my mom added a couple years ago.  Like a real island peep congregate around it, sit on it, tell stories, secrets, drink wine and make messes.  It is where you can hear all the noise coming from when you walk inside and it makes you eager to get there as fast as possible to join the conversation and eat any and everything that is within sight.  I hope your mom can cook like mine can.  I hope your dad loves food the way mine does.  Food was not simply a meal but an experience in that kitchen.  It would begin with discussion and thoughts on what we all wanted or thought of.  Then cooking and shopping trips would commence.  There were always snacks and apps and dessert and thing to munch, troll, and graze on.  I hope it is this way for you too.  I hope that your parents make lunches and breakfasts for you like they did for me every morning until I went to college.  I would wake up with barely enough time to do everything I needed and my mom would have the most delicious lunch packed and waiting while my dad sometime heated the car and out breakfast in my hand.  Treasure those small meals that are hurriedly passed to you while you run out the door with your backpack and gym bag and homework-perhaps unfinished from the night before because you all got stuck watching a movie instead and watching the ending was much more important than any math problems.  I found the best place to study was in my room with all of my books spread out around me on the bed.  Be careful though bc I was told if you are in bed then you will naturally be inclined to sleep and that studying will never be best executed here.  I never found that to be true but perhaps you will be more disciplined and will utilize a desk instead.  Don't put a tv in your room, even if your parents will let you.  I spent countless hours reading and dreaming in my room and I am better for it.  I cried when my favorites died and at a young age knew that the boys I read about were much better than any I ever met in school.  I promised myself to wait until I found one that made me feel the way stories do-even though my mom told me that real life was not like the books I read.  Do not always listen to your mom if she says things like this.  Sometimes life colors people in ways that prevent them for believing in the things they hoped to be true most ardently and then they tell us things to try and protect us when in fact all they are doing are disappointing us as they were disappointed themselves.  Fantasy is a good thing and imagination is realer than some of the harshest proofs you will learn.  Explore the backyard- even though there are more houses there than there were when I was your age.  If you go back far enough into the woods you will come upon a giant garbage dump which I used to love exploring.  This sounds less than desirable now but I had some great adventures then and likes to pretend I would find something magical that would make my life that much more like the stories I loved so much.  

Try to pay attention to the skylight right in front of the main staircase.  Notice how the sun shines through at different angles and how it moves alone the floor.  I liked to lay in the square that the sun was trapped in and pray especially hard.  I felt that God could hear my prayers quicker when I was basking in that one special square of light and that the rays would take my words and longings straight to Heaven.  Maybe it just made me feel beautiful.  I hope you feel beautiful there.  I hope you walk down that spiral staircase with a long dress on or with shorts on and no makeup and that if there is someone there or not you know that you were made perfectly.  I love that staircase.  I love that way that it moves and how it holds the upstairs and downstairs together.  I loved looking over the railing and running down on Holidays collecting eggs and presents.  You will love it too.  I cried there when my dad went away for a short while to quit something that made me love him not just for the light he brings but for the dark things he has had to overcome as well.  

I hope you have a dad who loves you with everything he knows.  I hope that he hold you and tells you that his home is where you are and you will know that he means it and that his arms are sturdier than any of the walls you have come to know so well.  I hope you have a mom who treasures you.  That she tells you of your beauty and your worth.  That she would leave everything she owns behind to have you with her.  

If the walls could speak they would recite to you stories and fights and tears.  You would hear about things that would shock you and others that would make you laugh.  They would tell you of all the hands that walked by and of the moments that felt eternal in their perfection.  Our legacy is now yours to do with it what you will.  Make something that will last.  Know that it cant be built with your hands or held with your arms- that it must be within you and carried- like the best homes- in your heart wherever you go.