HERE and HOME
The writer and ever poetic Pico Iyer has said home can be thought of as “the places deepest inside you.” He calls it the places where “you want to spend most of your time.” In another part of the world, the poet David Wagoner invites us to think about our locations differently. He writes “Wherever you are is called Here, / And you must treat it as a powerful stranger.” Together these ideas have cracked open my mind in a powerful way.
In these first months since From Scratch came into the world, I’ve been thinking about the two twin takes on being here and finding home. And I find myself with a definition of home that is expanding once again.
I have met so many people who have shared their stories and their hearts with me. They have gently and quietly confided what matters most to them, what ignites their hearts, the profound challenges they have seen, the searing losses and, yes, the love that has lifted them. In all these rich personal stories is the shared core truth of what it means to be human, in troubled times and when we are transported with unfettered joy. Life. Being human means reckoning with that duality that is ever present. And being “home,” as I now see it, is when I can stand in the “Here” of both those states and feel safe and loved. Even for a moment. Wherever we are.
Life doesn’t always come with warnings. Things happen out of the blue. They may be joyous, but they may also be fundamentally life-altering, filled to the brim with pain. Without preparation, we find ourselves in the middle of something we didn’t wish to happen. We are in a “Here” that is a “powerful stranger.” It is not gentle. And, in those times we long for home because we feel so incredibly destabilized and dislocated. We want safe harbor.
Meeting readers and receiving messages from Italy to Nairobi to Montana to Australia, I have learned that the way to “home” often begins with telling our truth, to someone, anyone. When we stand smack in the middle of a changed situation, and we’re able to have a difficult conversation that honors our “Here,” that is an act of homecoming. Being witnessed and heard can be the first healing step toward feeling safe at home, feeling safe harbor inside of the great connection that is universal home.
So perhaps “finding home” may mean reconciling a relationship with our “Here” – be it grief or joy. The reconciling can come from time, connection, the comfort of another or a combination thereof. For me finding home has been the many journeys to Sicily and the connection I find there. But it has also been any connection to another human heart. I now believe that generosity is a form of home.
As we round out the second half of summer, I wish you all many generous connected moments, healthy doses of sunsets and abundant breathtaking sunrises. Find your home wherever you are, with whomever you are. Ignite your brave hearts.
And please keep sharing your messages, letters and photos of From Scratch. I love seeing all the places we get to meet across time and space.
The post HERE and HOME appeared first on Tembi Locke: Official Website.
