Have you ever had that feeling that you haven't done enough? That everything isn't like it was and it's all crashing down around you? And then you finally get to that point and say screw it, I'm going home?
It is perfectly normal to feel that way, especially for college freshmen who are away from home for the first time. We all know life gets tough and so we want to escape and go home and curl up in our bed and sleep away the problems. Maybe cry into a pillow or in my case, my favorite stuffed animal that had sentimental value to me.
There is nothing wrong with that. There comes a time where we all think that going off to school is great and it's this transition that takes work. That's the case for some and for others it's not a huge problem. Those of us that can go home every weekend do so because they want to go home. However, there are those who have said they'll only go home once a month or not at all.
When you finally decide to go home, it's usually for breaks, but there are those rare instances where all you want is to go home for a weekend and to maybe curl up in your bed, close the blinds, pull the curtains, and shut out the world around you. Maybe it's to see your friends that are still around or close by. Or maybe go to work for a day and let the last few weeks kind of filter from your mind for the time being. We do all of those things because we want something normal and something familiar. A dorm room can only offer so much in being a replacement for your actual home.
Going home is okay, no one expects you to fly away from the nest indefinitely. The reason it's called home is so that you always have a place to go back to when times get tough. you have a place to land after a particularly hard fall. There has to be a support line, a network that understands you and that you can trust to unload your problems to and to let you feel that you have control in a constantly moving and evolving world. They are the ones that understand you better than the people you've only just met.
Home is where we learned everything that we needed to know. It's what got us through the pain of that first day of elementary school of being scarred of not having any friends, of losing that one best friend, of that one break-up that could have killed us, of saying goodbye. Through all of those, you had this constant in your life you could go to and to reel yourself back into the world. It was normal and it was familiar. Those are what we look for. We look for those two things to get us through the days because they won't always be there.
Going home let's you deal with your problems in a safe and neutral environment and it gives you time to catch up on life (sleep) that has constantly escaped you since moving away from home. You can get a home cooked meal and unload to your parents. Cry on your mother's shoulder and tell her all about how life sucks and wish you were anywhere but where you were, but once you get those emotions out, you realize you are crazy and perfectly content with where you're at. You can go out to breakfast with your dad and run into everyone that he knows in that one restaurant that he always frequents. Hear the stories he's told people about how you're doing.
Home is where your story began and it's where it will end. So, going home is always okay because the home you knew won't always be there. Just think it's as hard for you being away from home as your parents are with having you away from home. There's an emptiness they feel and don't realize it until after you're gone. Enjoy the time you have with them when you do go home because they don't know and you don't know how long it will be until you go back. Home is normal and home is familiar and it's always a good idea.
