Rides, ramblings and rants on a motorcycle.
- We are scientists, too!
7.19.2008,8:03 PM
What is 'Home'?
Home. That place, or state that we refer to all the time. But what, or where is it?
Often this has arisen in personal discussions, more so recently. 'Home' can mean many things to different people. Home may be where we grew up, where our families are, where we live, a place where we lived and felt loved or safe, a place where we are surrounded by friends and the familiar.
'Home' can also be anywhere, any place, at different times.
Just the other day I read a story written by a woman, Asha Patel, staying in Tokyo. Frustrated with a strange and impenetrable culture, inability to communicate and homesickness, she fled to a forest along the ocean. Where she did not find the solitude and solace she hoped for, and returned to the city to discover a revelation:
"....I realized my struggle to conform was futile, for it was from within me that a sense of home, a sense of belonging was to be found..... And so it was that I finally found home. Not in the familiar confines of my own country, but a deeper, more definite sense of belonging that is available when one opens her heart to the infinite possibility that life is."
Later she writes, "And so it is that the ebb of life continues to flow, and beautifully illustrates that I have evolved, transformed by that wonderful gift we call travel."
Franz Fanon wrote, "In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly recreating myself." There is something about traveling: taking your soul for a ride, different places and people that are unfamiliar. It allows you to evolve, grow and become the person that you are inside.
"Home is where you hang your hat" or your helmet. It is not a place, but a state of mind. Inside and outside, when the two meld in harmony. It is a connection felt inside and outside of you.
Inside yourself, you will find 'home.'
Often this has arisen in personal discussions, more so recently. 'Home' can mean many things to different people. Home may be where we grew up, where our families are, where we live, a place where we lived and felt loved or safe, a place where we are surrounded by friends and the familiar.
'Home' can also be anywhere, any place, at different times.
Just the other day I read a story written by a woman, Asha Patel, staying in Tokyo. Frustrated with a strange and impenetrable culture, inability to communicate and homesickness, she fled to a forest along the ocean. Where she did not find the solitude and solace she hoped for, and returned to the city to discover a revelation:
"....I realized my struggle to conform was futile, for it was from within me that a sense of home, a sense of belonging was to be found..... And so it was that I finally found home. Not in the familiar confines of my own country, but a deeper, more definite sense of belonging that is available when one opens her heart to the infinite possibility that life is."
Later she writes, "And so it is that the ebb of life continues to flow, and beautifully illustrates that I have evolved, transformed by that wonderful gift we call travel."
Franz Fanon wrote, "In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly recreating myself." There is something about traveling: taking your soul for a ride, different places and people that are unfamiliar. It allows you to evolve, grow and become the person that you are inside.
"Home is where you hang your hat" or your helmet. It is not a place, but a state of mind. Inside and outside, when the two meld in harmony. It is a connection felt inside and outside of you.
Inside yourself, you will find 'home.'
Labels: essays
