Is there a point in your life when home starts calling you?
She’s started calling me. She calls me in the moments I feel alone. The moments I feel stressed, sad or anxious, and even in moments of joy. She calls me to assure me a different life is waiting where I left it. A peaceful, calmer, slower life awaits.
This is a transcript of a phone call between me and Home in early 2023.
Home: When are you moving back?
Me: Oh, well that’s you really cutting to the chase.
Home: Sorry, sorry. How are you? What’s new? How’s your... other home?
Me: Fine thanks. Nothing much. It’s okay.
Home: Ah ha! If you moved back home things would be better than fine and okay. Your response to that question would be “fantastic, nothing much and fantastic”.
Me: Okay, chill. We know you have an agenda here. But what makes you so sure everything would be so fantastic?
Home: Umm, isn’t it obvious? Have you forgotten? Do I need to remind you?
Me: I guess you probably do.
Home: Remember the long summer nights, providing almost endless opportunities to explore. It felt like it would never get dark. And in the dark nights of winter, it felt like there would never be light. But there was a magic in it, in hunkering down and living a slower life in the off-season waiting for spring.
You didn’t have everything on your door step, but you didn’t need it. You appreciated and savoured each experience that came your way. Everywhere you went had the potential to be a great adventure. A taste of something new and exciting, with the comfort of returning home and reminiscing.
You have your family here. Friends you’ve known all your life. There’s a familiarity and an opportunity to reconnect, with people, nature and yourself.
It’s a different way of life. A slower life, with vast skies, untouched landscapes and room to breathe.
Me: Yeah, I guess that does sound pretty good. But are you confusing place, with a place in time? Are you just being nostalgic?
Home: Perhaps...
Me: I’ve got a life elsewhere now, a new home that I’ve made for myself. Let me tell you all about it.
My home down here is different. Not better, just different. It’s a busy life filled with plans, carefully choreographed around the demands of daily life. It’s very easy to be anonymous, which often I enjoy. Sometimes there’s a tinge of loneliness, so I’m trying to forge new connections that give that sense of home.
I truly feel I have the best of everything. Coast, country and city on my doorstep. I could be wild swimming, forest bathing and city exploring all in one day, and it wouldn’t be a struggle. The summer days don’t feel as long, nor the winter days as short. There’s still a magic in it though. In the changing of the seasons and the fresh perspective each one brings. Perhaps I don’t appreciate that as much as I did back home.
Trying to live more intentionally is something I’m working on. To spend each day filled with joy, embracing the small moments that make a life. For now, it doesn’t matter if I’m living at Home 1 or at Home 2, the place in time is more important for connecting with this life.
Home: Well, I guess at sounds kind of nice. I’ll leave you for now, but just know that I’ll keep calling. Home will always be here, waiting to embrace you like a warm hug.
Me: Thanks for everything. Growing up where I did, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. When it was time to leave, I was sure I’d be back soon enough. Maybe one day, but not for now. For now, I’m happy where I am. To have a part of myself in both homes, with plenty of adventures in between.
But alas, I didn’t answer the call as I didn’t recognise the number. Perhaps Home should have sent a text or voice message instead.