Home is Where Your Heart Beats Best

As of late, I've been further pondering the meaning, purpose, place and work involved with this concept of 'home'. Being an alien in a land that you love like an old friend, it grates on me to constantly have to justify and explain my existence here. "Where are you from?", a constantly fielded question. And I know nobody means any harm by it but it is not a simple answer for me. I come from a place that does not physically exist anymore, as really we all do. The exact geographical location of my early years can be pinned down to the greater DC area but it was really despite the culture I came to consciousness in not because of it that I am the way I am. Why don't we define ourselves by the place we choose to be presently, rather than the place we just happen to come from?

So what is home? Home is where you choose to be, wherever accepts you for all of you, where life is just challenging enough to afford you opportunities to grow but provide enough comfort to catch you when you fall. Sometimes the exploratory process can be scary but by looking, listening, and thinking "What is life really like here?" everyone can truly connect with the world. Home might be the place of your childhood, or somewhere vastly different. How can you know unless you truly think about it? It is suggested that you 'shop around' for big decisions such as purchasing a car or choosing a mate, why not the community in which you reside and contribute? We cling to similarities sometimes when we should be exploring our fantastic differences. How do you learn and grow by only asking questions which you already know the answer to? The best way to learn your way around is to take time to get lost for a little while, say "Yes!" to the unknown, look down a few dark alleys every now and then. The only barriers that exist are those we buy into. I think we should make the time in life to apply this concept to our definition of home. The world is too big and wonderful a place to just settle for what's handed to you.

So to all the past and future probers of the question,"Where is home?"I say, "I am here now! Happily, contently, serenely here now. And for the first time ever in my adult life, I have no plans to go anywhere else anytime soon*." That's why I think I am home.

(*I will keep traveling at every possible opportunity but now I will have a place to be excited to return back to time and again.)