Home is more than just a place. It’s a very powerful concept. It’s what makes us comfortable, what we’re familiar with, what makes us feel like everything is all right. Home is our place in the world. It’s where the question, “why am I here?” no longer feels confusing to think about. It all makes sense.
Home is where we understand, and are understood. Are you at home with yourself? Do you have anyone to be at home with?
I think that one of the greatest feelings I get in life is the feeling that I helped somebody come home. That no matter what they’ve been through, I was able to get into their world and understand them, and let them know in no uncertain terms that I understand. That they don’t have to be anybody else or say anything else. That it’s ok.
I just crave moments like that. That’s where I’m at home. That’s a big reason I write this blog… hoping that those who read it can find some understanding and a sense of home. For when you are at home, understanding and being understood, that’s when you can rest, recharge, and go back out there and make the most of yourself. Be the constructive, forward-thinking force that society, family and friends need you to be (even if your strength is expressed very quietly or invisibly – it still counts just as much). Be what you need you to be – so that your regrets may be few to none in life.
The road home is not always a smooth and straight one. And, once we are home, our ensuing sense of purpose very often shoots us back out into the world. Few people are truly satisfied staying in one place, even though many believe that they are satisfied this way. Home only truly becomes home if you leave it every once in a while. For sometimes, home will change: sometimes, a place you used to call home, no longer feels like home. Be ready for those times, so that you can leave and more easily find home once again.
Wherever you are in life, whatever your current situation, I urge you: do not merely ask yourself if you are happy: Ask yourself if you are home – or at the very least, if you know where home is, and can come back to it when you need to. This is one of the keys to living a fulfilled life, through both hardship and joy.
Positive Juice 
My father always asked at varying stages in my growth “Where is home to you?” and as a child and well into my teens my response was always “Where my parents are” Home for me was connected to the love and safety I felt with my family.
As I have grown older this concept started to change. For my father mountains in Austria have always felt like home. It is one of his strongest connections to and internal happiness and memories that make him feel that way.
I always struggled with being able to find my true self. To be brave and say what I mean and take a stand when I needed rather than pacifying who I was with. I ran this cycle for a long time until one night with a very big fight and a friend had the courage to say to me “If that is the kind of relationship you want and you feel it is ok to be treated that way then I can no longer be your friend” made all the difference. I took a stand and left and while I shook for 3 days and had an overwhelming sense of fear when I put myself and the kids in the car to head back to a place where I could get a foothold I finally realized that I was home. Not the physical location of where I was going though that was a bonus. I had returned to myself. The peace and happiness that followed was astounding and everyone noticed that I had changed. I was home. I came back to myself.
I told my father “I (and the stress the I) am home.” It resides within me now.
Safety is a very key corollary in feeling at home. Glad you brought that up, and I’m glad you listened to your friend and were able to move on. I’m sure you will now play the same role for other friends of yours, and for your kids. 🙂