It's often said that home is where the heart is.
Most people accept the truth to this common saying with no problem; for me, however, it has always been a bit of a conundrum.
Ever since I was little, I've never stayed in one place for very long. I wasn't sure where my heart was; I never seemed to stay anywhere long enough for it to take root. My childhood was characterized by the hum of moving vans in the driveway and the sight of boxes full of my belongings piled up in the living room: every time I began to feel at home somewhere, it seemed, it was time to leave.
By the time I turned 10, I had moved up and down the Eastern seaboard. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Florida were all places I had called home at one point or another. I had lived outside of major cities, in bustling suburbs, in sleepy rural areas; I had met a wide variety of people from vastly different walk of life. Most of all, I had become incredibly familiar with the feeling of being the new girl.
At the time, I hated the fact that I had never had a place to call home. I envied other kids my age who had been born and raised in the same neighborhood, who had had the same best friend since preschool, who had never been forced to pack up and leave everything behind. I felt as if I didn't truly belong anywhere.
As I got older, however, I began to realize that my transient childhood was a blessing in disguise. Moving around as a child taught me a valuable life lesson that most wouldn't learn until adulthood: the lesson that change is the only constant in life.
The many changes I had endured gave me the ability to accept change with an open mind. While others my age had never experienced major life changes, I had dealt with more than my fair share. By the time I reached adulthood, I was ready to take on whatever curveballs life had to throw at me.
I've come to realize that the old saying is true: home is where the heart is. But my heart isn't in just one place.
Home for me is the mountains of New Hampshire, the suburbs of Pennsylvania, the beaches of South Florida; in their own ways, these places all molded me into the person I've grown up to be. They taught me that life is a continuous journey, and that no matter how many stops you make before you reach your final destination, you should always take a moment to admire the view.
At the end of the day, I couldn't be more thankful that I've perfected the art of being the new girl.
