Monika Basile's Blog: Confessions of a Bleeding Heart - Posts Tagged "home"
No Place Like Home
“I have to get out of this gosh dang town”
“I’m not staying here! There has to be more.”
“Anywhere but here…”
There are much more beautiful places I could be living than this town in Indiana. There are oceans I have never seen and ancient ruins I would love to wake up to with the sunrise. There are mountains for backdrops behind cozy cottages and a million twinkle lights and racing cars zooming through the cities. There are places that have eternal sunshine and some with constant rain instead of the cold and blizzards I am used to. There are stars—billions and billions of stars that I could see much more clearly if I lived in a less polluted space. Yet, I live here.—in this spot. Sometimes, I get angry about where I live and can be ungrateful. Most days though, I am thankful that I have my rusty steps to count the stars on.
We all have those moments when we think we have to be “elsewhere” to find our joy. We can forget that we bring ourselves with us wherever we wind up. We fail to realize we can be happy or content just about anywhere. Or we can be miserable wishing to be anywhere but where we are.
We tell ourselves we need to be somewhere different to start fresh. We really don’t. We just need to actually start. We need to start something and that, in itself, will be fresh.
I am not saying don’t move away or don’t go exploring or don’t dream and create the life you want for yourself. I am only saying that no matter how far you run, you can never escape yourself. The things that bother you where you are will be the same things that follow you on.
You are still very much you no matter what wonderful place you live in. If you aren’t thankful for the warm bed you sleep in, you won’t be more thankful for a warm fancy bed in Paris. If you destroy relationships in Michigan you will very easily destroy the new relationships you create in New York. If you hate the people of your home town you will also find many people to hate in the big city. If traffic on the expressway annoys you to death—then getting stuck behind a tractor down a quiet country road will be the same bother.
It doesn’t matter at all where we live and what we call home. It matters how we feel about it and those who are sharing our life with us. It matters that we actually have someplace to call “home” no matter how modest and humble or extravagant and huge. Home really is where the heart is. Life is not easier in one place or the other really. Everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages.
Even in what we might consider the lowliest places—there is beauty and there are good people doing the best they can. In the most gorgeous and affluent places, there can be darkness and sadness and people who never notice the beauty around them.
We can find our joy anywhere. We don’t have to run a million miles to be better off. We only need to take a fresh look at the place we are or the place we are going to and make the point to focus on the best parts. And if we can’t find those best parts, we need to take a closer look at ourselves and create them. It never hurt anyone to become the best they can be.
Monika M. Basile
“I’m not staying here! There has to be more.”
“Anywhere but here…”
There are much more beautiful places I could be living than this town in Indiana. There are oceans I have never seen and ancient ruins I would love to wake up to with the sunrise. There are mountains for backdrops behind cozy cottages and a million twinkle lights and racing cars zooming through the cities. There are places that have eternal sunshine and some with constant rain instead of the cold and blizzards I am used to. There are stars—billions and billions of stars that I could see much more clearly if I lived in a less polluted space. Yet, I live here.—in this spot. Sometimes, I get angry about where I live and can be ungrateful. Most days though, I am thankful that I have my rusty steps to count the stars on.
We all have those moments when we think we have to be “elsewhere” to find our joy. We can forget that we bring ourselves with us wherever we wind up. We fail to realize we can be happy or content just about anywhere. Or we can be miserable wishing to be anywhere but where we are.
We tell ourselves we need to be somewhere different to start fresh. We really don’t. We just need to actually start. We need to start something and that, in itself, will be fresh.
I am not saying don’t move away or don’t go exploring or don’t dream and create the life you want for yourself. I am only saying that no matter how far you run, you can never escape yourself. The things that bother you where you are will be the same things that follow you on.
You are still very much you no matter what wonderful place you live in. If you aren’t thankful for the warm bed you sleep in, you won’t be more thankful for a warm fancy bed in Paris. If you destroy relationships in Michigan you will very easily destroy the new relationships you create in New York. If you hate the people of your home town you will also find many people to hate in the big city. If traffic on the expressway annoys you to death—then getting stuck behind a tractor down a quiet country road will be the same bother.
It doesn’t matter at all where we live and what we call home. It matters how we feel about it and those who are sharing our life with us. It matters that we actually have someplace to call “home” no matter how modest and humble or extravagant and huge. Home really is where the heart is. Life is not easier in one place or the other really. Everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages.
Even in what we might consider the lowliest places—there is beauty and there are good people doing the best they can. In the most gorgeous and affluent places, there can be darkness and sadness and people who never notice the beauty around them.
We can find our joy anywhere. We don’t have to run a million miles to be better off. We only need to take a fresh look at the place we are or the place we are going to and make the point to focus on the best parts. And if we can’t find those best parts, we need to take a closer look at ourselves and create them. It never hurt anyone to become the best they can be.
Monika M. Basile
