by,
Kathie Shoop
It always amazes me when I realize how powerful the concept of belonging--home--is. Whether it's your house, where the center of your being rests--or the sense of home you might find at work and with friends.
For children, it can be the place where they play most often outside the "real" home.
This summer, our swimming pool has been closed so my family has been given access to other pools in the area.
I never suspected that my children would need more than a body of water and at least some of their friends (and of course me) to feel comfortable at various places.
But I've found that everytime we try one of the new pools, the first time we go, stinks.
They kind of linger around me, ask me to play more, can't quite get into the type of groove that allows them to entertain themselves and have a blast with just their imaginations and their little bodies.
They can't and don't verbalize what's happening, that they feel a little out of sorts, but by the next few times we go (and remember they have friends with them each time--it's not a though they're relying totally on making new buddies) they're back to their old adventurous selves.
I don't quite know what to make of it, obviously, it's not life or death and certainly won't try their ability to function in the world, but it makes me wonder--or realize--just how important the component of place, especially home is in our lives.
Where do you find yourself most comfortable in the world and where do you find yourself itching to leave?
10 comments:
I'm most comfortable, well, at home! Any time I'm away, even if for only a few days, I can't wait to get back.
I always contributed it to my astrological sign of Cancer the crab and wanting to stay in my shell, but I, too, long to stay home. However, I do have one home away from home that I feel almost as comfortable at. The Beachcomber Campground at Presque Isle, Erie. When I go there I feel like I've come home and I get pangs when it's time to leave. That's the ONLY place I can say I feel that way about other than my own little log cabin.
Is it dorky beyond words to admit that I feel most comfortable in the library? Any library? Second runner up is the beach.
I guess the perfect "home" for me is a library at the beach.
Ramona, you should do what I did--I had my husband turn what used to be a small utility room into a library. Heaven.
Joyce, is it overlooking a beach? And if so, can I come live with you? ;-)
Joyce and Annette, I too love being home, but like Ramona, there's nothing like time at the beach. I suppose I wish I had the means to do nothing but write, go to the beach every few months and then write some more in my kitchen. I love the idea of the library at home. I want to change my dining room into a dining/library...I suppose the key to being comfortable in your skin is knowing where your soul is most at ease, maybe???
Sorry, Ramona. No beaches anywhere near my house. I have a really nice yard, though.
Count me in as another homebody. I LOVE staying at home. Well, except for my one week during the summer when I go to the beach.
If I could find a home ON the beach...oh yes, it would be pure heaven for me.
I'm really feeling at home at my new job. And best yet . . . air conditioning! (Something my home at home isn't equipped with.)
I do like having an office where I can walk down the hall and see people. I find both home and private practice become a bit lonely after a while . . .
Comes from being an extrovert, I guess.
Kristine, it seems as though the home thing is popular with writers... and the beach. Tory, I'm with you, a little of home and space among others is nice. I write in two cafes that somehow fit the phschic criteria of home. But my kitchen is my fav. But as Kristine, says, a home on the beach would suit me fine.
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