To me home is the place where I am most free to be myself. It is the place where I have the greatest sense of belonging and where I can relate most intimately to the people who mean the most to me. It is the place where I have around me so many things that represent me as an individual - and things I treasure, which hold many memories - including innumerable people who have been part of my life.
There is, of course, an old saying that home is where the heart is. In that respect it can indeed be anywhere you are for a longer or shorter period of time, as long as you feel a sense of belonging there, and your heart is in that place at some point in your life's journey.
And maybe like you, I also consider two places I regard as home - the place where I am currently living now and the place where I grew up.
You see, I spent most of my formative years in Sagay with my father and sister and a long list of relatives. When our mom left us, my dad brought us to live in the ancestral house and in my mind and heart that house will always be my home, even though I have another house in a different village in the city now. But no matter how frustrated I may have felt during those times by how cramped, cluttered and chaotic it was during the overwhelmingly trying years when I was growing up - it was, above all my family's sanctuary.
That house is where we came together, where I was nurtured and feel comfortable with my own personal identity. It is the place where I shared the most meaningful relationships I have in this world. It's the place where I can shed any masks I had worn into the world to cover the most vulnerable parts of my soul - and where I can feel free to express myself.
Home is not only where the heart is. It is the place where the pulse of the family unit is felt by each individual.
I am going back to Sagay next month….and I am very excited!
13 comments:
I can't wait to hear all about your visit back home.
How far away is it from where you live?
I'm so glad you have happy memories of a loving home - so many don't.
It was a long time before I stopped calling where my mother lived home - It wasn't where we grew up but still felt like home.
I love my home & I spend most of my time here
Mimi,
my country is compose of islands, i have to travel by boat to get to my home town and it will take around 20 hours to get there, or just an hour by plane and another 2 hours by land trip from the airport to our home.
xoxoxo
Travels home are always great. When I lived in Texas I told my family I couldn't afford to come home to NC or Christmas, but really I was able to get the money together. After two whole days of travel I arrived at my sister's in-laws where my BIL brought her to the back of the house (he knew I was coming) where I was. She cried and hugged me for a long time. When I arrived home my mom saw my reflection in the mirror and wondered out loud who the guy was that looked like her son. When she realized it was me she jumped up, ran over to me in the kitchen, and started smacking me on the arms and back and calling me a rat! It was great!
~Randy
There is also a saying you can't go home again.
I moved around a lot growing up. The areas where I was in long enough to have formed attachments to have changed drastically since I lived in those places. Say 10 times as populated as when I lived there.
Using Facebook I have managed to make contact again with some of the friends from my teens.
I don't consider where I am now to be home and to be honest don't see myself seeing any one place as home again.
Hi Odette.
Long time no speak i am really sorry that i have not been on your blog for a while and also that i have been neglecting mine just recently. Mine has not had the same enthusiasm since i started getting what were at first rather abusive messages now they are more stalkerish!
Just read this recent post of yours i too feel like i have two homes the one which my parents still live in i still call home most of the time and this one - the one i bought for myself 5years ago-will be 6 years this year! I still cant believe i have been here so long!! Eddie hasn't been very well this week tho now he has some medicine he seems to have perked up a fair bit which is fabulous. The vet told me if i had gone just 24 hours later he could have died but he seriously didnt have any symptoms except that he had slowed down a wee bit but they do that when they're shedding which he was. I just booked him in for a health check! I am so glad i did-or else my baby could have died-it terrified me that they dont show any symptoms till it is too late!!
Scary hey?!
Anyways wanted you to know that i have just been taking a few steps back off my blog till things settle down a bit as its really been getting too me that someone could be so cruel to my little safe venting space-it feels somewhat tarnished now if you know what i mean.
I also cant get on to my farm at the moment which is frustrating me so much. Facebook has decided to block farmville from coming onto my screen properly. I am seriously having withdrawl symptoms from my farm what will i do without it? :(
Anyways honey. Speak soon till then take care. Lotsa lv Rattles Xxxx
Lovely post, are you going there permanently or for a holiday :)
xoxo
Kirst,
Just for a holiday. my kins abroad are coming home and we plan to have a big family reunion of sorts...it will be fun!
i am so happy to hear from you again. i miss you.
xoxoxo
rattles,
oh, what a jerk that stalker of yours is! anyway, we ca always update each other on FB, right?
xoxoxo
Odette
of course we can still message and keep in touch on fb. I was really upset with these nasty comments on my blog as they are on my facebook friends list as i posted a status update saying i had had enough of the idiot who was tormenting me. It can only be one person out of about 15 people as it has to be someone from auk but also knows i have a blog and where to find it.
Take care hon and big hugs
(((((((hugs)))))))
Lotsa lv Rattles Xxxx
Wherever your soul IS and your heart IS that is where you will find home.
Stella,
i have moved to different houses and i have but fragmented memories of homes i have lived in. i have gone through a thousand doors and woke up in a hundred different ceilings. so, where should my heart be?
xoxoxo
you are very lucky to have a very close knits family. one for all .
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