Getting a home loan feels… strange.

It’s different to other loans we’ve had. Unlike our student loans, we have to pay a miminum amount each month no matter how much we earn. Unlike family debts, there is zero latitude if we run into a bad patch. And our credit card company probably can’t throw us out of our home. But it’s more than that.

Decades of our lives will go by before we are free of it. Each month we will make our repayment, and our total debt outstanding will drop a little — before rising again when the interest kicks in. 300 steps forward, 299 steps back. Then each quarter we’ll balance our books, and plan where to rein things in, and where we can relax and celebrate a little. And then twice a year our mortgage broker will check if we’re struggle, and entice us if needed with any better deals on the market. But it’s more than all that as well.

This loan is changing who we are.

When I first saw a science video of a couple of rats dumped into a maze, I was surprised at how animatedly and dextrously they swarmed in search of their prize. As if they were almost enjoying it.

We won the auction. We took possession of our land. We’re in the prime of our lives, and finally we’re in the home-owners club. For the next quarter century we’ll be living the dream.  It takes effort to stay in any dream, right? 

Getting this loan makes us ache body and soul. But that’s ok — it’s well-designed and we’ll no doubt get used to it soon.

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Image sourced from The Humanity Development Library 2.0 (For sustainable development and basic human needs)