When most people think of home, they envision a structure, a shelter from the elements, a place where they run to for comfort and safety. A place of rest.
The structures we often find ourselves in when we are “at home” aren’t what make home home, it’s how we feel when we are there that make it so. The feeling of peace, the feeling that you aren’t meant to be anywhere else, or that no matter where else you go and what else you do, you’re meant to always find yourself there. There where your mind is free to wander or stay, there where your feet aren’t afraid to admit they are worn out. There where sleep comes easy, because your mind is at ease. And that place, it isn’t the physical address you fill out on tax returns or immigration forms, it isn’t the place you leave to head off to work every morning or travel out. And while you may long for it when you’re away, you long only for elements of it, you long for the way you feel at or in it.
Home is a memory of the goodness of life. It is the reminder of a life well-lived and the moments that have gone into living that life. Home is a reminder to smile, a reminder that there may be turmoil in the world, but you have a peace in you, and so you have a home. Home could be a lone beach in the middle of nowhere, or a sun you’ve watched set over the same horizon all your life. Home could be the laughter of children, yours…or someone else’s. A cup of tea, a gentle touch, the arms of a lover, the arms of a loved one.
Home can be anywhere you make it. Anywhere you find peace.
Home is not a structure. We are the structure…We house all our fears, hopes and aspirations, we house the power to make our dreams a reality. We are home to groundbreaking ideas and revolutions, we are home to comfort and peace — be it other people’s or our own. We are home to tears and joy, and to tears of joy. We are home to heartache, healing and growth, we are home to learning, unlearning and relearning. We are home to resilience.
Wherever we find ourselves, we are home.