The word home means different things to us all and I guess some feel more connected to their concept of home than others; I think what's common to all is that we all have one, only the location differs.
For me, I'm home when I close the door behind me, which means I can make any place my home - I guess it's a little like the Tad Williams quote above for me and I'm ok with it. I have a first home of course, the place I was born and grew up in, a small rural town in Australia - I even feel emotionally beholden to it - but my life is where I go and so home needs to be also.
I think the only place I don't feel truly at home is when I'm away from my partner. Sure, the location is a place I sleep, somewhere I can close the door behind me a place to live and be comfortable and mostly content, but home isn't bricks and mortar to me, home is thoughts and feelings, emotions, shared love and connection, my cat, the comfortable scents and sounds and the look of her eyes upon me when I catch her looking - I try to avoid those eyes when I'm in trouble, but thankfully that's not too often. Home is something that I will defend to my last breath because it's a concept that is incredibly important to me.
They say a person's home is his or her castle and I tend to agree; I just feel that the location of that castle can be somewhat transient as home sort of follows the person.
Take someone who has left their home country for another for whatever reason. They may use the word home in respect of their country of origin as would I, but their home is where they are presently and I believe that's how it should be - in that way, a person gets to feel comfortable wherever they go. This doesn't mean their home of origin loses value or relevance, just that they have settled into a new one for a time...like a hermit crab I suppose.
I wonder if your home is your castle or if your emotional feelings of home are left back in time in some location you no longer reside in, like a home town or city. Feel free to comment if you like, tell me about what makes home for you and why, tell me about a home you miss and would like to return to, tell me about a place you currently live that does not feel like home. Whatever you like I suppose, just comment if you're inclined to.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Image(s) in this post are my own - Dunster Castle, UK
Today I totally identified with everything you said, yes my home is a castle and I designed it that way once. My home is where I am now, my family, my cats, my space, and myself, my home is my interior, that closing the doors behind me.
My home is what is in my heart, where I feel happy and those people who make me happy.
Today I'm a bit sad because of bad news about my aunt, things are not going well... they are my home too.
I was touched by your post today..... very much.
Hug Galen
I figured you'd agree. You know, it's interesting because when I write posts like this I think about those who read my posts regularly and I imagine what they will think and say, I mean based on what I know from their past interactions with me. I thought you'd be on board with this.
I totally agree and every day that goes by I feel more and more at home in that way. My castle is my heart and in it there are many things.... those things are my home.
I like the usage of the hermit crab. Your post reminded me of the phrase, Home is where the heart is. For me, that is also where I live. No matter how much fun I had outside, or at another's house, nothing beats getting back home. There is a sense of comfort and security unlike anywhere else.
I feel a little sorry and sad for those who don't enjoy (love) where they live; I believe it's within the ability of the individual to make a building feel like home. Seems you agree.
I guess when one doesn't own the place they live in, it can be hard to feel attached to it.
Well yeah, but I guess the whole point of my post is that I don't feel that the feeling of home is at all about the attachment to bricks and mortar, buildings I mean. It's a feeling one has inside.
Oh, I agree. I'm just replying to this statement:
I feel a little sorry and sad for those who don't enjoy (love) where they live
Ah ok, makes sense. 😊
@galenkp I have several roofs over my head. My first home is the earth, our good old planet. My second is the one where I currently live, which is the place where I recharge my batteries to purify myself of all the negative that could happen in my day. At one time during my journey of discovery I had a house which was made of a few planks of wood and a hammock which was my bed. I had a house even further away which was just a well insulated sleeping bag which could allow me to stay outside until - 5°. My bed is my third house my temple hahaha yes my temple. My bed is the basis for rebuilding my inner balance. Thank you for opening a discussion on this interesting subject which is our house
I like the idea of a few planks of wood and a hammock, it speaks of simplicity and of the individual making home wherever the individual is; so many people are always looking for something better, the next best thing, and that's ok...but one also needs to remember to find contentment right?
Yes, I have learned to appreciate comfort. After experiencing a certain level of well-being without fully realizing it, the encounter with the minimum, or even almost nothing, has allowed me to recognize the fortune I had before. Today, I appreciate what I have even more.
Truly, there is no place like home. As a student, I should live in the hostel, a place totally different from my first home. At first, the hostel was a totally strange place for me, but with time, I began to see it as a home because I was making valuable friends and experiencing things that affected me positively.
Home can be anywhere I guess right? It's a state of mind, a feeling, and it's possible to get that no matter where one is I suppose.
Home is a place where I feel comfortable and a place that I will never leave, I cannot leave for now. I live in the city of Malang, and this city is the most comfortable place for me to live. I don't think I've ever felt at home anywhere other than Malang. Why? Malang is a quiet place and not as noisy as big cities, the air is cool, and the people are nice. I've been to various places besides Malang and nothing can make me turn away from Malang. It's the best place to live. Other places may be more modern, have more entertainment and tourist attractions, etc but it still doesn't make me want to move. My husband is from out of town, specifically in Yogyakarta. He's originally from there and I often go there, but when he asked me to live there, I didn't want to. Yogyakarta is good but I don't feel comfortable there for several reasons, I feel foreign and I don't think I feel at home there.
That is the meaning of home in physical form. But in another form, for me home is when our hearts are comfortable and at peace with someone. Someone we can't live without. Of course this is talking about lovers, it could also be about our parents too and when we are far from "home", we will feel homesick and it will be very painful and torturing. In the past, my "home" was my father. and when my father passed away, I felt for a moment that I didn't have a "home" anymore. When I was close to my father, everything feels easy and comfortable, I never feel afraid of anything, I don't worry about anything. I miss him so much and it's so torturous. but God always helped and accompanied me so that I was replaced with another "home" and I am grateful for that.
@galenkp
There is a piece of song lyrics from Christina Perri entitled Arms and this is true:
You put your arms around me and I'm home...
I like your concept of home and agree with it...it's much more than a place, a building or location, it's about feelings, emotions, memories, happiness and so on. That can be found anywhere from a hut in the forest to a high rise building because it's actually found inside.
Yesss true. Thank you, Sir. You feel me :)
Great topic today mate. I've always felt that home is where you make it. Obviously the main things is that it needs to be near places of work. I'd move wherever no issues. Home is where you make it.
I think it's nice to have a place to come back to, wherever that may be, that one thinks of as home, the place they feel content, comfortable and nurtured...or whatever. I think you know what I mean.
I like very much your home definition. We have almost the same approach.
For me, home is where you feel loved and supported and where you are you and only you, without worrying about the opinion or thinking of others.
In this case my home could be anywhere, if I love myself first, if I remain free, and happy as I am. Today I don't have a partner, I have decided a long time ago that I will wait for the right person with whom I can really feel that. But every day I find myself more and more demanding. So I don't know.
On the other hand, when I'm around my family I also feel at home, even though we are all so diverse in ways of thinking about oneself and about life in general.
Having the right partner can give one a sense and feeling of being home no matter where one might be...the togetherness, the bond, respect, passion and so on...all those things speak of home to me in respect of my partner; I think you'll agree. And yes, family can bring similar feelings.
I couldn't agree more that home is a person. It gives me peace and makes me calm when I am with my person, who actually listens and understands me from my chaos 🥰
Yep, that's the way it is I think and it seems, by the comments on this post, others feel the same way.
For me my home is my own house. Like it always feel good to be in my own house where I can lay down whenever I want. I always feel comfortable inside my house. I find peace being at home.
That's a good situation to be in, contentment.
Thank you. Yes it always feel good to be home
Another knowledge and learnings is added.Thankyou for sharing your thoughts about home💗.
I can say my true home is my family and the people I loved, the place doesn't matter as long as I am with my family I consider it my home.Truly your home is where your hearts are.
Well said about family, I agree completely. Thanks also for taking the time to comment.
When I started a relationship with my partner, I lived in my parents' home, which until then had been my realm of freedom and fortress of security.
But as time went on, and our relationship became more serious, I began to understand what I know now.
Home is where she is.
Where love and happiness are. Not a former love or the memory of happy moments, but the current one, which warms me and provides a feeling of closeness and security. We have been living in our home for years, which we adapted as we wanted together and it is our safe harbor.
And when we travel somewhere, we call the room or apartment where we sleep "our temporary house", but when after returning from the trip, we step into our apartment, we always say with a smile "Our beautiful, warm home. Go everywhere, come home".
Nicely said and I certainly feel the same. I think you and I think alike in many ways.
Thanks for commenting, I appreciate it.
Mine is similar just switching the cat for a dog.
However, I have a more complex feeling about all of this. I understand the symbology about "castle" reminds us of a super protected place, full of towers and unbeatable walls. In my point of view, I associate a cave as my home, not because my home is a dark place. But a cave was our first shelter as humans, protected from the rain and dangers from outside. Inside the cave is very comfy, it is a nest that me and my wife have been building for years. And now for 6 years we are parents. A cave because is my hiding place from the world, the daily job routines, and stressful moments to solve problems outside. I have always had this feeling of my cave since I rented my first apartment after getting married.
It is always hard moving from a cave to another, even bringing our nest together. I always suffer a lot in this process, but I changed two times of apartment from my hometown, then I changed to another country. And two years ago I changed from east to west in this country, miles away. I feel that from every moving I leave a part of "home" behind, and I miss some parts. However, the main core of this home is always with me.
You leave part of home behind you?
That's sad as it means those places you move to feel less and less like your true home.
I'm the opposite guess, I feel that the journey through my life makes each place I live more my home as it is the culmination of all of my experiences, thoughts and feelings into one time and place and it's all of those things that help to make each place home. Besides, home isn't a place I guess, it's a feeling of belonging and that comes from inside me.
We're all different though and have different thoughts, thanks for sharing yours.
Mostly friends and good memories! But for sure after every moving I build new memories. It is sad to see this things that were left behind, but i praise a lot about the things that are in my current place :)
Hi Galen, my home is something very simple, a quiet place, with good music and no bad company. Next week I'm taking a few days off and I'm sure I'll be able to find a home away from home. A hug
I like it...what you said about home. It means that no matter where you go you make the most of the situation and have the chance to become more emotionally settled and content.
At least I try to, although I admit that I usually manage to stop, think and enjoy the moment.
For me, my home is a personal milestone because it's something that I worked hard to purchase. It's a small space but it's cozy enough and I am proud to call it my own!
The satisfaction that comes from having worked hard for something is strong, and I think it also makes that thing more significant.
Yup you summed it well there!
I've only lived three different places in my life, but I still am pretty close to all of them. Actually, right now I live in a town between the other two towns. The one is where I grew up and where my parents live and the other is where my wife grew up and where her parents live. My current house feels the most like home though. While we didn't build the physical location together, the "feel" of the house my wife and I have created. Actually, the whole vibe is in a bit of chaos right now and that makes it hard some days. It's still our home though.
I think the person that can find contentment in the location they live in is more likely to enjoy a happier and more settled life. This doesn't mean one can't want something different and work towards it though, that's ok too, just that settling back into home and embracing it will make it feel more like home.
For sure. My wife and I already know we want a smaller place sometime in the near future.
I'd never heard these words before and they're incredible, we really can make our home not just a place, a structure of concrete and steel, but our mind, our head can be the biggest and best home, after all it holds the things that are most important to us: our memories, experiences, everything we've lived is recorded and stored there, this reflection is incredible!
About my permanent home, I actually live in an apartment with my family: wife and a couple of kids and they are everything to me, but as I said yesterday, my home is my safe haven, it's the place I love and want to go back to whenever I'm sad or somewhere I don't like. My home is my refuge, the place where I feel good and protected, as you said in your post "My house is like a castle", my protection! A big hug!
I like how you describe your family and how they make you feel when you return home, and that that's where you want to go in tough times. That indicates how much it means to you.
Thanks for sharing and getting involved with the conversation.
I thank you for these reflections, I found your posts yesterday and I really liked them, your texts make me think a lot about my life and everything I think and feel, I will follow you more closely because I was amazed by your content.
I just created this little phrase to thank you for sharing:
My home, my world and my life, everything important is in there, along with all my love.
Thanks for you kind words and thoughts on my posts, I appreciate that and your relevant and interesting commenting too.
Have a nice end of the week and a nice weekend too.
I woke up to this reflective write-up and was really engrossed while reading through. For me, home is more than ceilings, roofs, beds, and doors. Home is wherever you find peace and emotional stability. If your residence is a constant reminder or embodiment of the troubles of life, then it isn't your home! I incline towards what you said: "Home is a feeling".
Greetings!
Feeling settled within oneself is a good feeling and if that can be found, a certain contentment, then I think a person can find happiness more easily and a better more fulfilled life. Don't you think?
Settlement within oneself is indicative of "Inner peace" and a man without peace will be devoid of happiness.
This simply means that peace is the foundation of happiness and fulfillment in life, so yeah, I definitely agree.
Home is where the heart lies they say. Home for me is where I am comfortable, used to, a place where I can be myself and be at peace. I love serene environments.
I think that's a good definition of home for sure.