Finding Home

Home…I love the word. It wasn’t always that way, however.

For a lot of people, home is a place they, too, would rather avoid because it’s a place of grief, sadness, or discontent – all the things a home shouldn’t be.

Home, for a time, was a place where the show Hee-Haw could be heard in the background or Tom Brokaw’s soothing voice on NBC Nightly News, while my mom was busy mommy-ing in the kitchen making her “famous” dumplings (even though she always cheated using frozen bread dough – I didn’t care, though).

However, days such as these were short-lived.

Before long, my home would become a space filled with great sadness with an empty seat at the table, where the occasional “family” meal consisted of a noodle dish of some kind.

Home would change again – when a new presence would walk in the door. Only, this is the point in time where home would become a place I couldn’t wait to escape.

Arguments. So many arguments. Smoking – lots of it. Trash-talking; plenty of that to go around, too. And aside from weekends where I was expected to be Joan Cleaver, a Merry Maid, and the lawn-keeper, it was me (most of the time) with a lonely bowl of Fruity Pebbles…lots of Fruity Pebbles.

Home: it means something entirely different to me now and has changed its meaning throughout my life. We’ve all heard the expression: home is where the heart is? But what if the heart is broken? What if the home is broken?

Change The Meaning of Home

I got to thinking – what if home was what we made it in our hearts or what we decided we wanted it to be? Can we escape to the inner-room that is the center of our souls – where dreams and aspirations sit quietly and patiently waiting…yearning to be acknowledged?

For a lot of years, I did just that – escaped by going inward, trying to find ways to express myself outwardly that wouldn’t add to the discontent of home.

Raising a teenager today has brought up a lot of the angst I know I felt as a teen. And, it’s gotten me thinking, too: I wonder how our kids perceive home? And, I wonder how they perceive their inner-home, too.

Ponder This…

Just as we sweep off the doorsteps of our physical home, it’s often releasing to clear away the dust, dirt, and grime of our inner-home as well.

What does home feel like to you today?

What has it felt like through the years?

And, what, more importantly, does your inner-home (your heart-center soul) feel like these days?

I happen to know where you can find a broom, friend.

Pin It on Pinterest

Skip to content