They say you can’t go home. I have no idea why they say that but it sounds profound, right?
In reality the sad idiom is based on the idea of what we perceive to be home. Home is a construct in our head of a snapshot of our family life when we were kids. If you were lucky, you had a fairly stable family and there were times when you felt safe and happy. Perhaps the snapshot is of a family circa 1974 where you are wearing ghastly colors but you recall that the day you took that picture you laughed and played with your family. It was a good day. Sure, every family has bad days. Every family has those days that are etched in your memory and that you still have a visceral reaction to when you think about certain things. This picture of home is not one of those days. Or maybe it is.
The truth is that we can go home. If home is a construct in our head then we can construct a new one! Imagine a home where you are safe, whole and happy and your life is splayed out for you like a buffet of possibility and wonder. Now that would be a great home to go back to.
They say home is where the heart is. If your heart is in a good place, your home is all those wonderful things. The journey we are all taking is to find our way home…to the safety…to the happiness…to a place of happiness.
We can always come back home if we want. You might just want to redecorate a little before you go.
(Thanks to Jason Mraz for reminding me of this. “93 Million Miles”)
xo
Lee
What a lovely idea, to construct our own “home” as a state of mind. We could all use a safe place to retreat to when the day is overwhelming. Now the question is… how do I convince my inner construct to cook dinner?
angela recently posted..The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow – A Review
This is so true. I think a lot of it also has to do with letting go of expectations. People change, things change, you have to do your redecorating with that in mind.
Tracie recently posted..I Don’t Understand
I think my “home” is partly my own construction anyway. I have warm fuzzy feelings about my childhood and some of the stuff my mom remembers as significantly affecting us (like my sister being sick) I don’t remember that way. Not that I ignore the hard stuff, just that I think it fades in comparison to the stuff I remember so fondly.
Robin recently posted..Getting My Book On
I hope my husband and I are creating a home our children feel safe and happy in, and want to come back to. My ‘back home’ was created after leaving. I kept the good and discarded the bad.
Tara R. recently posted..Today I shall behave…