Home is Where the Heart is? Or is it?
- Omarr jon Oree II
- Jan 11, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2022
The world is a vast and deep place! Combine people, places, things with emotions, thoughts, opinions, and theories…it’s even more complicated. Little know or thought by many, we walk through life believing we know a lot when we have no idea what is happening around the corner! Amongst the chaos of COVID, the Taliban, school shootings, and dealing with everyday life of trying to get out of bed, where do we find a place of piece?
For years I’ve been searching for this place of peace. The first time I found it was walking the streets of Amsterdam. It was drizzling as the sun seemed to evaporate the water before it hit my shoulders. Thousands of people were out and about walking here and there as I was met with bright smiles and cheerful laughter from a young group of girls. As I met the eyes of one, there was a mutual sense of happiness and gratitude of the moment we both looked into each others eyes and saw nothing but happiness.
The second times I felt at peace was walking around the West Lake in Hangzhou. I was with a beautiful young lady whom I was dating at the time. It was a sunny spring afternoon. The wind was calm and air clear as people were quietly strolling to and fro enjoying the smell of fresh water, blossoms falling, with the swirling aroma of Chinese street food. We held hands walking along the lake as I was so happy being in the moment with this young lady, having some of the closest friends I’ve had in my entire life and a family whom I’ve grown closer to as I was far away. It was truly wonderful feeling as though was life was full and complete!
The last time I felt at peace was the day I found my phone at the lost and found in the city center of Hyvinkaa, Finland. After losing the phone on a cold and rainy day and spending two whole days trying to recover passwords, regain access to accounts and phone numbers, Google’s “Find My Phone” notification let me know that someone had found my phone and handed it in. When I told the story to my Finnish friends, she said, “That’s Finland! We don’t touch what is not ours.” Instantly, I knew, that this was my place of peace…home!
“Home is where the heart is!” I’ve heard this saying almost my entire life and spent a lifetime trying to understand what it means. Is home a place where we lay our head. The physical location where we rest our heads and our answer when filling out the “address” box. If that is true, then many of us would call a variety of places we have slept home. Hell, I’ve had at least three or four places where I’ve slept in the past four months, were they my home or just a house?
Is a home about the people we surround ourselves with; family and friends? If that were the case, are the people we call family what make a location our home? Could it be our immediate family we were born into? The family we created? or friends that we are close to? I know a lovely young woman whom lost her parents and considers her best friend & her parents family. These individuals are mean the world to her even more than her extended family and told me that she believes family are the people that you love most and can be created; not necessarily the people who are blood! Hence, maybe home is whom you give your heart to and not where is rest.
For myself, my heart has always been with me and I have always been home. What I’ve learned is that I have to allow my mind to find peace in itself no matter where I am! That I will always be home as long as I am happy doing what I do best, striving to see the world smile!
As 2022 begins, I’ve thought a lot about what I am going to do with my life, who will enter and who will leave. I have no idea what I am doing at the moment but trying to make the most of it all. Enjoying all of Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Truckee Boardhouse and the fabulous people who I am surrounded with each and everyday while looking forward at where I might want to rest my head, find some good people to surround myself with and take a deep breath knowing that I am at peace!
If you feel the same way or different, I would love to hear what you think. Until next time, take care and have a wonderful 2022. Just remember to enjoy the journey because it’s worth a lot more than the destination!
Bon Voyage!
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