Stories

How to belong

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Artwork created by painting over the surface of a black and white photographic print with colourful paint. The artwork shows the original heads of two individuals from the photograph, on the left an adult woman and on the right a young baby. The baby is being held in the adult's arms. Apart from the heads the rest of the image is a painted yellow background covered in small green, orange and blue dots. The individual's clothes are painted differently, the adult's has a green background with wavy orange horizontal lines and pink spots. The baby's is green with pink cell like patterns with red centres.
Belonging and why we long for it. Cressida Lindsay with baby Amanda. © Naomi Vona for Wellcome Collection.

What does it mean to belong? Growing up in an unconventional family in a conservative rural community, Tanya Perdikou has always struggled to feel that she fits in. In this series she makes sense of belonging and why it matters. Over six essays Tanya explores how addiction, racism, place, parenthood and, lately, a global pandemic can shape how and where we feel we belong.

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Part1
Belonging and why we long for it

Tanya Perdikou’s upbringing emphasised conventional respectability, but other influential family members embraced the bohemian life. Caught between two sets of values, she questions where, if anywhere, she fits in.

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Part2
Ancestry, privacy and the family tree

Wanting to find out more about her Jamaican grandfather, Tanya Perdikou contemplates DNA testing. But first she has to consider the potential impact of unexpected results.

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Part3
When you don’t belong, you drink

In the third part of her exploration of belonging, Tanya Perdikou unpicks the addictions that have shaped her past and uncovers the connections that make recovery possible.

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Part4
Searching for a place to call home

Wherever she’s lived, Tanya Perdikou has rarely felt at home, and numerous moves have perpetuated a sense of disconnection. But signs from nature offer powerful moments of connection.

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Part5
Belonging, babies and self-belief

As a first-time mother living abroad, it seemed too exhausting to truly connect with new acquaintances. Instead, Tanya Perdikou began to make a kind of peace with herself.

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Part6
Finding consolation in social isolation

Feeling isolated and anxious during the lockdowns of the last year, Tanya Perdikou found solace in reconnecting to her past and reaching out to neighbours in the present.

About the contributors

Photograph of Tanya Perdikou

Tanya Perdikou

Author
tanyaperdikou.com
@tperders on Twitter

Tanya Perdikou is a freelance writer. She specialises in telling stories of how the human experience intersects with society, nature and travel. Among others, her work has been published by the BBC, the Huffington Post, the Guardian and the Bangkok Post.

Photograph of Naomi Vona

Naomi Vona

Artist
naomivona.art
@mariko_koda on Instagram

Naomi is an Italian artist based in London. She defines herself as an “archival parasite with no bad intentions”. Her works combine photography, collage and illustration, and her research is focused on altering vintage and contemporary found images, creating a new interpretation of the original shots. Using pens, paper, washi tape and stickers, she gives every image new life. Her work is basically composed of three elements: her background, inspirations and subconscious, which are also the glue that pulls everything together.