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Remember Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz? Saying ‘There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.’ I think almost everyone can identify with that deep human sentiment. That yearning in each of us to return to a safe, warm, loving place – a place that we call ‘home.’ Sometimes we think of home as a certain place – perhaps where we grew up. Or perhaps where we are today. Or maybe, i’s not so much a particular place – but ‘going home’ may mean being together with our family, our loved ones. But whatever it means to you, the idea of ‘going home’ is so very special. It’s one of life’s true treasures.
Have you ever gotten home after a long day and thought to yourself, there is truly, no place like home? The word home itself can evoke so much for each of us. Sometimes we may think it’s just a place with walls and a roof over our head, but the truth is, our homes, and how we make them, are environments that have much deeper meaning and value. What we define, or how we make a home, is often the biggest reflection of who we are and what we’ve both experienced and what we value.
Home in our lexicon here in the States tends to be a physical place, shelter, and sanctuary, that gives us refuge from everything that happens outside of it. Interestingly enough though, throughout the world, home has different meanings or even translations across different cultures, once again reflecting its diverse interpretation. To really explore how we define the word home can do wonders for cultivating and developing our own understanding of the word and even who we are as individuals. For example, Karen’s dad used to say how ‘at home’ he felt when he was sailing up in Maine. Not a dwelling, but still a place that he felt most comfortable in. Home is a memory, a feeling, part of our imagination that helps us tell the story of ourselves and gives us context for our place in the world. In another sense, the United States is our home here, and with that comes a whole different contextualization for the understanding of home. When we travel abroad and share that we are American, it impacts our interactions, for better or for worse, but ‘home’ in this case once again grounds us with a sense of identity and self unlike few other things in life.
Perhaps when we were younger, we didn’t like making the bed in the morning or doing the dishes, but now you can’t live without it. Or maybe you grew up in one place you once thought you’d never leave, but did, and now call another place your home. The point being, where we make home, call home, or feel home is ultimately a place where we not only show our most vulnerable and comfortable selves, but where we make memories that tell each of our unique stories. And whether we want to believe it or not, a home is a home not just because it’s where we might sleep, or where we might feel most comfortable, but it’s where we are able to catch the best glimpse of who we really are. And because of this, yes, it’s true – there’s no place like home!
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