The Place YOU Call Home

Unless something changes before next month, this blog is a short introduction to next month's newsletter. If you happened to miss my newsletter lately, you can view them by finding Read My Newsletters in the right hand column.

I have long been intrigued by the concept of Home and what it means to all of us and each of us. I'm sure part of my fascination with this subject is because for so many years, I lived so far away from the city/state/country that I called home. Maybe this made me feel more sensitive to the feelings of home.

When does the place or city you live in become your home? How long does it take before a new place becomes home? Does it happen instantly or does it take some time? Are there certain things that need to be in place before you get this feeling? Can you live in one place for years and still feel like it's not really home? Do the feelings of home change? These have been things I have wondered about over the years.

I remember when I decided to leave Sweden to return to California in 2011, I was surprised by the responses of many people - especially those who had lived in Sweden for 20 and 30 years. When I told them my news, there were many who said, 'I think often about going home'. For some reason, I had thought that most of those individuals had made Sweden their home and that they no longer entertained thoughts of going back to the country where they were born. I had never heard these people ever say anything about 'home' before, but it was obviously something that was always present for them.

I am soon off on a trip to Sweden for a visit and that's why I think next month will be the perfect time to explore the topic further in my newsletter.

In the meantime, what are some questions or thoughts that come up for YOU about home?

The Place Next Door

Last weekend I spent a couple of days visiting my sister and brother-in-law in San Francisco. I love visiting the city for lots of different reasons. This trip I decided to go to Grace Cathedral to walk the labyrinths (stay tuned for a blog post on this soon!). I wasn't actually all that interested in the cathedral itself - for me, the draw was the labyrinths.

Boy, was I in for a surprise. As I walked through the beautiful, expansive, impressive cathedral, I was in awe.I always look for experiences like this in the US but don't often find them. I love walking into a church or cathedral and feeling the history, feeling that wonder of how it was built - how much work & planning & artistry went into it. This is what I felt as I walked through Grace Cathedral.

And my awe was also caused by the fact that I lived in the City for 3 years and never visited the Cathedral. It wasn't even that I lived far from it. Actually, my bus and walking routes wereon the very street of the Cathedral. I just never thought to walk in.

Why is it that when things are so close, we often miss them? We're often much more curious about those things that are further away - in another neighborhood, city, state or even country. THAT's what we want to explore. And often there are PLENTY of gems right around the corner from us.

So this week, I invite you to bring that curiosity closer to home. What might you explore that's right next door - a new route, a different street, anew cafe or restaurant or building? Is there something you walk or drive by each day, but have never REALLY seen or looked at? Explore that thing next door this week - who KNOWS what you might discover?