Saturday, February 7, 2009

What is Home?

In one or two of the most recent of the facebook-chain-letter-notes-where-you-fill-out-information-about-yourself-and-tag-everyone-you-know-so-they-can-do-it-too-and-then-tag-all-their-friends phenomenons, there was a question asked that I can't quite figure out the answer. The question itself raises many more questions than answers for me.
The question is something like, "What is the farthest you've been from home?"

...um, 15 hours?

What does this question even mean? What is home? Is it the place where you currently reside? Is it the place where most of your loved ones reside? Is it limited to an address, a building, a city, a state, a country? Is it the place where you keep your stuff? Is it the place where you feel most comfortable? Is the place you always go back to? Is the place you will ultimately end up?

When you say, "I'm going home." To where are you going? To whom are you going?

How long can you be at a place before it becomes home? Can one home replace another?

What is home? And then, what is the farthest you've been from that?

2 comments:

Eva Joy said...

I notice this most when I am talking about a weekend trip to LP and I say things like "I'll be going home Friday afternoon and then I'll come back home on Sunday."

I don't even have immediate family in LP anymore and yet it remains my home. It is familiar, comfortable, full of stories and memories.

But I make my life in Rochester. And it's home. For now. But I don't think it will be forever.

Also, I have always loved this storypeople story: "Whenever I go on a trip, I think about all the homes I've had & I remember how little has changed about what comforts me."

Those are my thoughts about home. For now.

After catching up on your blogs (having been off-line for 9 days) there are a plethora of things I wish to speak to you about. Any chance we can have a Skype date on Tuesday anytime between 10am and 2pm CST? I would enjoy if Stephe was involved as well.

Laura said...

Everywhere I've lived has become a temporary home for me. Right now my home is in Lithuania. So what's the farthest I've been from my current home? Depends on which direction I'm traveling.

On the other hand, I will always consider the whole state of Minnesota as home. The farthest I've been from Minnesota is probably here.

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