Home is where the heart is?

How true is this saying to you?

There are times when I say to myself "I want to go home....", yet, when I say it I am physically in my home. Going back to my parent's place (where many seem to relate "home" being) doesn't seem to cure it. I've heard countless stories of people who find a niche in life, or make a sudden move, and suddenly think to themselves that they are finally home.

Is "home" really more of a state of mind than a physical location? Can you relate? Have any of you ever found your "home" after years of dissatisfaction? Why can one person feel at home in the place they've grown up while another person is dissatisfied their whole life- only to step off of a plane in a foreign location and culture and suddely get hit with the feeling?

Yes, I do think home is the place where you feel recharged or whatever... which may not always be where you 'live'. So yeah, it's a state of mind.

I know when I was outdoors for a while I always had places I'd go to anyway which just felt 'right' to me...

I remember there was this one shopping center I loved to go to haha... I'd be in K Mart walking around, pretending I'm shopping, I'd stop and play some video games for a while... then I'd go in Toys R Us and look around, then walk through the mall... I never got bothered and nobody suspected I was just loitering I don't think, it was kind of like I was free but invisible to some extent. I actually enjoyed that.

It's only a place (not necessary a home) where you physically live, the rest of you lives in a state of your mind. What is a home for you? Is it where you feel warm and comfortable, safe physically, spiritually, whatever. Well, so far, it is a goddman place to hide for me. Home is more of a state of mind, I think. I might be here, but the part of me isn't. I guess, I am not home just yet. Or my home could even be someone... :)
Also, when we focus on memories, I guess, we sort of go back to the place, but that place may not be a home anymore.

Originally Posted by whyerr

Or my home could even be someone... :)

That's an interesting idea.

Also, when we focus on memories, I guess, we sort of go back to the place, but that place may not be a home anymore.

Memories: another interesting idea. I was born in Texas, but moved from there when I was around 4 1/2. I have very few actual memories of being there, yet I sometimes get a very intense longing to go back. Would I call it home if I went back? That's very hard to say, but considering I don't seem to fit with the average Texan "ideal", then probably not.

Perhaps that's part of my personal problem. My longing is for a "home" that I lost and would probably no longer be comfortable in. My mind (or soul, perhaps. mind doesn't sound quite right) just hasn't found a new home, yet.

what if you don't have a heart?

then ura hobo ;D

Going to college in a different state, I've had to think about this a lot. Up until now I've lived in Minnesota my whole life. I love the state and I love the people, but something I always felt off. I think I always knew I didn't belong there, no matter how much I loved it.

Coming down to Texas I instantly fell in love with the state. I love its weather, people, music, food, conservatism, patriotism, and state pride. I've only been here for a few months, but something just fits. I feel more at home here than I ever did in Minnesota. I feel like for once in my life I've found a place where I belong. My heart is in Texas. In a weird way I think it always has been. I could never truly be happy living anywhere else. So, for me, home is Texas.

I've got too many ideas to put down in any reasonable fashion...

I spent a decade never living in the same place for more than 9 months. Home is where I happen to sleep. That's about it. In a greater sense, home is where you find people who support you and care for you. I've also found that once you move out of your parents' place, every passing year it becomes less and less of your home. When I was in Iraq, home was everywhere. If we rolled out on a mission that would last a few days, my home was the top of the HMMWV. Turns out if you stuff your jacket in the crack between the back hatch and the roof and then roll your ground pad out, it's very comfy. You're also further away from camel spiders! When I'm out camping or backpacking, home is a tent, wherever that may be.

For me, "home" is highly contextual. I don't think there is a satisfactory and absolute definition to be found.

Yes, it's purely psychological.

Home is wherever I feel that I belong. I can make my home wherever I feel any "intimate" connection with either the people or the things that the environment invokes. When I think of "home" and why I miss it when I do, I don't think of the house (or any of the past locations). They are buildings -- nothing considerably special about that -- and tons more like them exist everywhere. I think of what has turned those locations "alive" -- given them an actual face -- in my mind. Those are my family, my friends, my memories, and that sense of being at ease, supported and accepted. Around the right "feelings", I could just as easily feel at home in the streets. Depending on the location, sometimes I actually do.

When you long for home, you long for a sense of comfort, belonging, and familiarity. Not a house.

Everybody likes the HOME, it simply attached with me, My Home describes my things, my people and my property