Going home, the feeling of warmth and familiarity, nothing can beat that. Home is not a place but instead it is an abstract concept. It can, of course, be a place or even person that you are completely comfortable with, no need to impress or set expectations. It’s a feeling of safety and of empowerment. To go back to someone or someplace that you know more than you know yourself. It the simple truth that home is whatever and wherever one wants it to be. Time and time again a home can change, it can be a best friend, it can be a childhood home, it can even a simple tree. As a kid, I used to play under this amazing pine tree in my grandparent’s yard and while I haven’t seen it in years I still consider it one of my homes.
A person can have multiple homes which can change as often as day to night. One day in a hotel and I will call it home, simply out of habit. It is the place where one can reconvene and recharge in a sense. Going home after a vacation or college can be a surreal experience. You change when you leave so when you come back it feels just a little bit off and no longer a complete sanctuary, but then as you spend more time back you can find ways to adapt and again be at complete comfort with your home, whether it be a place or person. By sharing parts of your experience bringing back trinkets or stories, it can become home again. While you could not take your home with you, you can bring part of the experience back and thus the changes you went through are no longer obvious. They begin to seamlessly fit in with your regular routine and so your home becomes your's again. Old memories at a place or with a person will not fade and they are always there. New ones can be forged from your adventures and become connected to the old ones through stories. Every life is a story and a home is a representation of that. A person can have an idea of who you wholly are by how much they know about your life, in their mind you are part of their story. A house is instead a place that you can fill with memories of your life, of what you want to do and accomplish what you have already done. Home be it a person or place is a composition, the person who you feel is home will know your dreams and deepest fears, while a place can have material objects that best represent who you are. Find that person or place and be at comfort with it. And so my dear readers I urge you all to embrace your home, be proud of your accomplishments and your lives, for you have done so much and will continue to shine.
