What makes a home? The truth about a life-long reconning

On home | Part 2

This dispatch comes from a place I called home for many years. Having raised our kids here, we’ve returned far less than we would have liked.

Being back this week, I have found myself bumping into memories as I retraced well-trodden steps across the airport (I couldn’t even count the number of times I flew in and out of here!), sidewalks, grocery stores, or the library. Memories that will forever ground me to this place. People who defined my world. Experiences that have shaped who I am. Decisions that have steered my life.

Home — as a symbol and an anchor for belonging — has been a bit of lightning rod for me. I launched this series by sharing why I chose not to have a home for a year+, and how I pulled it off. Now, I share a “poem” I penned as I trekked the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal in 2011.

I have come to suspect that memories and rituals — as well as a sense of belonging — are key to unlocking transformation. In this, I believe that having to thread the needle between the primal urges to belong, to be known and to chart my own path has made me a better changemaker. 

Image credit: StockSnap. Licensed under CC.

English is not my first language, and I am definitely not a poet. Journalling this way has, however, often offered a welcomed constraint at times when nothing else could wrangle BIG, devastating reflections. So, as you read on, please don’t judge a poet.

Rather, see if you might relate and consider how the notions of “home” and “belonging” inform the risks you take and shore up your efforts to remake the world for the better.

What is a home?