Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule.
– Frederick W. Robertson
We each long to be in a precious place where we are known and loved and accepted. We don’t have to spend effort hiding our flaws. We don’t have to pretend to keep up with expectations. We don’t have to wonder why we are not good enough. We don’t have to complete a journey. We don’t have to learn a lesson or reach a milestone. We don’t have to hope for one more piece to fall into place. We are finally enough. We are present and safe and enjoyed just the way we are at the specific point in the journey where we are.
Home, to the place where the truth lies waiting, We remember who we are. – Paul McCartney
I remember who I was before I learned so much about life. I was a happy little kid who loved my family, enjoyed my friends, tried to pet every single animal, domestic or wild, that crossed my path. I was enamored with the smell of the ocean and the playfulness of the waves crashing. I was overjoyed at the sight of a giant box of crayons and the seemingly limitlessness of beautiful colors in the world. I thought that home was a vast place in the world where many good things could happen.
What great truth is there in remembering a past version of home? In some ways it hurts because the world is not the great place I used to think it was. But in other ways it gives hope. If this world can allow some tiny little human to breathe for a few years at the beginning of life and see so much good in the world, maybe the grown human who is hopefully wiser and stronger can also connect with that childhood awe of life and see so much good in the world once again.
Maybe part of the best way to connect with each other and to build homes between ourselves in relationships is to remember who we were. To not look on our past with shame, to see that we started life with a lot of good things packed into a small child, to remember how much connection we could enjoy with others just by being our authentic unimpressive little self.
Do we have to grow up and let our hearts die like the quote from The Breakfast Club? Sometimes ignorance can be the smartest thing. I don’t want to know what it is like to have my life in order and to permanently be my best and to know exactly what to do in every circumstance and to be a billion amazing things all at once because I don’t think that is a true place for any human to exist in. I just want to be home. I think you do too. You’ve got this!
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This post is republished on Medium.
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