"The days we were happy"

Some of you may recognise my title from elsewhere. Yes it is in fact the name of a famous artwork that has appeared in the HSC visual art test papers and from which I seeked influence for my initial body of art.  "The days we were happy". The artwork is a series of photographs torn in half and simply taped together in the middle showing how the artist valued the times in those images and wants them back. The title of the artwork really got me thinking. Was there ever a time in my life, like the artist when "we were happy", we referring to my family. And the answer to that question is yes. Now don't get me wrong, we are in no means sad or depressed but I feel there was a time when we were just happy and not running after work and slugging behind the consumerist society like we all do today. Or maybe I just think that because I was young an naive and didn't have a care in the world besides what clothes I should put in my Bratz Doll.

Its been 8 years since I moved into the place which i hesitantly refer to as "home". Despite living here since the age of 9 I still believe that Campsie is my home. The streets and people still seem familiar to me even though I have been separated from that place for nearly a decade. I feel like when we lived in campsie there was nothing to worry about. There was time for family and there was time for friends. There was the opportunity to become friends with my neighbours and play with them in the afternoon. Oh how I miss that so much. Even when I moved into this place there was no one to play games with like I did in campsie, and there still isn't. Everything was close by and the shops always stayed open till 7 at the earliest even on normal working days. There was never a dull moment in Campsie. And here, well its like I live in the country side or something because lights are off in every household by 8pm. The streets are always quiet and no one ever says hello to anyone. If you drive for a minute or two TOWARDS the CBD of this area you see horses. Yes horses.

I dont know why but I still cant regard this place entirely as "home". I guess it is kind of home but i still feel like i truly belong in Campsie. The parks and the streets, the libraries and the small stores are all so familiar to me. I have a memory stuck on every street and every lamppost. It was in campsie that i was  truly happy and sometimes I feel that if i didn't move here I would still be "happy".

After HSC I will be spending most of my time in Campsie just taking in the whole atmosphere. I cant even begin to explain how much I love campsie and how much credit it deserves for making me who I am today. To me campsie is like that magical land where everything is always magical.