Home.
Have you ever thought about what this actually means? Really, what does home actually mean to you? For some it's four walls - AC, Heating, electricity, somewhere to rest your head, and all the amenities that help us feel comfortable. To others it might mean the space they create for themselves that incorporates nature into their lives - a dip in the ocean, a sunrise or sunset, a ride on the perfect wave after work, a walk in the woods, or the way a breeze brushes through your hair.
To most, home is the place where warmth, certainty, and love resides.
home
hōm/
adjective
- 1.of or relating to the place where one lives.
Sometimes it takes quite a while to establish the feeling of home. And I'm not sure home has anything to do with a physical location to be quite honest. Home is a place in our hearts, and sure that can be manifested in physical form but we create it and ease into it in our own way and in our own time. We live in one place (or move around) during our childhood either not thinking much about this concept or with a certainty that home is wherever our street address is. Mostly, that is all we know. Then we go off into the world moving from one place to another, exploring, growing, changing, falling in love, falling out of love, trusting, having our hearts broken, and learning how to trust again. We go to college or we leave high school and start a business. We meet many new people, we stay in touch with some old, we follow our dreams, we settle into careers and establish a new street address we call home.
But it isn't really home right away, is it? Not usually..we have to fill it with love and warmth. We need to fill it with time, people, meals, fond memories.
And the people.
The people are crucial.
Because whether you consider home to be a box with four walls, the heart of the person you love most, your pet, your community, the color of the sky as the sun bids us goodnight..the people you are surrounded by in all of these places make the difference. The ones who take time to cook you homemade soup when you're sick, or leave fresh green juice on your doorstep for an immune system boost. The people who write hearts on your cup every time you go get a coffee. The people who text just to say they love you in the middle of the day. The amount of strangers who become friends, and the value they add to your life. This is home. This is where love resides. Let us give thanks for the people who make the physical space a home. They make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our should blossom.
