Home is a place within you.

I spent the last two weeks in the country of my birth, India. This is the place I have called home, where I grew up and spent the first 35 years of my life. There is belonging, safety and a comforting sense of familiarity here.

As I begin this new year, I am back in Sammamish, Washington. This is the place I have called home for the last five years. There is belonging, safety and a comforting sense of unfamiliarity here.

Feeling emotional, I ask myself.

“Where is home?”

Home has different connotations for everyone. To some it is the place where they grew up. To some, it is a place where they live. To some it is a privilege, and to some a basic need denied.

There was once a man who loved to complain and find fault with everyone and everything. Nothing pleased him, so he moved from one town to another, declaring as he left each place: “I am going to another town, where the people are friendlier.” A wise man perceived what the problem was, and as the angry man began striding along the dusty road to yet another destination, the wise man compassionately called out: “Oh brother, moving from place to place does not serve you well. Wherever you go, there you will also find yourself. Your shadow is always with you.”

Like the man in the story, many of us spend a lot of time looking for the perfect home. We speak about places we might live when we retire. We spend time longing for places we may have lived or want to live. We feel homesick, or nostalgic.

We look for happiness outside of us. We look at home as a physical structure, something external to us.

What if home was a place within us?

What if home was a place, we could access no matter where we went?

I have spent the last 2 weeks meeting family and friends. They make home what it is, and saying good-bye is tough.

Home is a place within. I tell myself and carry all the memories wrapped up neatly in my heart, to be accessed simply by closing my eyes.?

Home is a place within. I remind myself, as I travel across continents from one “home” to “another”

Home is a place within. And suddenly saying good-bye is easier.

Whether you have lived in one home for all your life, or have moved many homes in your life,

Whether you are in the country of your birth, or in an unfamiliar land,

Ask yourself, Where is home? The answer may surprise you. Or like in my case, may even heal you.

So where is home for you? Let me know in the comments.

* This article was originally published in the Appleton Post Crescent. You can read it here: https://www.postcrescent.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/07/05/column-home-place-within-you/451714001/