I’ve just come home from a wonderful trip overseas, to see a part of the globe that I have loved from afar for many, many years. The kind of small idyllic country towns that feature in the sappy Hallmark movies (yes I raised my girls on these feel-good, cheesy romances well before Gilmore Girls was a thing! And yes, Rick also loves them – he will never admit to it though!)
The area around New England in Fall. Saturated colour, awe-inspiring vistas at every turn, quaint country towns and cute avenues of boutique shops. It was two weeks of sensory overload!
It got me thinking about place. Why people choose to live where they do, how generations come to be part of a village, or a nation.
Unlike previous generations that had to stay put, today we have unprecedented access to a lifestyle of mobility. We can explore and bounce from place to place, never settling down or making anywhere home. While it feels freeing to be able to try something new whenever we want – whether it’s a new job, a new city, a new group of friends, or even a new country – somewhere along the way, we discover we might have missed something.
We may be paying our bills and have a roof over our heads, but statistics show we are more lonely and unfulfilled than ever, disconnected and dissatisfied. Rates of suicide, depression and anxiety have skyrocketed, in an age of abundance never seen before.
So what’s that all about? What is missing??
I think we are wired for home. There’s a real argument for staying put, planting our lives somewhere and letting our roots take hold to experience deep fulfillment. I wonder if this is the key that our forebears knew as they sat on their verandahs, women with aprons hitched over their knees and a cool towel around their necks after a day caring for family, watching the corellas feed on the fading twilight lawn. Chatting over a cold cordial, or ale – life breathing all around them in the dusk.
And inside of that need for home, is the power of place.
When I look at nature, I see that the most fruitful plants are ones that have been allowed to have their roots go way down deep in the soil, ones that are planted where the conditions see them thrive.
Each country has endemic species of fauna and flora, and when they are in their indigenous environment, they seem to proliferate.
When we know we are where we are meant to be, we can travel and see other sights, but we sense we are only passing through. We can enjoy the moments even more, because we have a home to return to.
I came home from my long awaited trip more in love with my place than ever, more content and with a new appreciation of the beauty right outside my door.
Author Madeline L’Engle said, “Maybe that’s the best part of going away for a vacation – coming home again.”
Do you know where your place is?
Can we help you find it?
We do have a few homes ready and available right now to deliver prior to Christmas if this is the time for you to say yes!
If you give us a call, reply to this email, send up a flare for help! - we are only a phone call away.
Let's help you find home :)