The Concept Of Home

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3 years ago

Where exactly is Home?

We know that home is more than just a house . In the Wizard of Oz , Dorothy does not find peace until she clicks her ruby shoes uttering the words ; "There is no place like home"- so one thing seems certain - Home is where there is some kind of emotional attachment .Let's delve a bit deeper into the concept of Home and how we form this concept.

Attachment to Place

There is no doubt that the notion of home has some form of an attachment to place

Let me give you an example - I have lived in Spain for 26 years - that is just over half my life. .However people still ask me if I am going HOME for Christmas . Note the use of the word home. I do catch myself saying : Im going BACK to the UK for a couple of weeks . My emotional attachment is connected to the memories of growing up in the UK , my family, my late Dad my Mum - in short my UK memory bank . My Spanish " memory" bank I opened as an adult and I have deposited memories of my children and of course beautiful places here and wonderful people. So can the concept of home be more than one place? I also have "go to " beautiful places that I have visited like the magical island of Formentera that I could quite happily semi retire to for several months a year .I mean the concept of "home" could be broadened - we all have our own "private idahos"

Emotional Attachment

Our concept of home is affected by the emotion evoked in us . Just as the UK evokes warm emotions and childhood memories of the first half of my life , my second home - Spain evokes another set of memories and forms another attachment . So does this mean I need to choose one home over the other? Can we have various homes over the course of a lifetime ? If our "homes" depend on the people - what happens when those people are not there anymore ?

Where are you from? v Where do you live?

Nowadays asking the question : " Where are you from? " can be quite misleading being that we are quite a nomadic global community in general. We should lean towards asking where people are located . However just because someone lives in a certain place does not mean they feel that this is their home - maybe they are there for work purposes.

Spiritual Concept of Home

So having looked at how we can individually form our own concept or notion of Home . There remains one : The spiritual concept of home - yep it's a bit daunting - I get to think about this as I see that my kids are growing up quite fast or speaking to my elderly mum on the phone .

However I know there are many beautiful places I already know with some points of references - as long as I am near my family - well near enough for them ( when they are older ) to pop in for a cup of coffee :)

Have a great Monday !

Share your thoughts on what your concept of home is if you like