A Home Inside

Uprooted. Floating. Groundlessness. Unsettled. When these feelings abound inside us, we confront a basic need for a feeling of connectedness, belonging, or a feeling of being home. The psychological and emotional aspects of homelessness are often overlooked due to the disproportionate attention placed on external realities such as shelter, food, warmth, and interpersonal contact. There is nothing wrong with this imbalance, in fact, it’s perfectly appropriate given what is abundantly clear as the problem and the solution. Don’t have a home? Well, here’s a place to rest and have shelter and nourishment to feel protected and soothed.

But what about the internal experience? What do when feeling homeless inside ourselves? We often turn to others or concrete material things or a geographic location to establish a feeling of being at home. When we realize that feeling at home with the help of outside things takes precedence over feeling at home inside ourselves, we notice a slight shift. We begin to recognize that we must develop a sense of a “home inside”, to learn to belong to ourselves and perhaps to the world around us whether through others, through nature, or the broader Universe.

Ask the question: Do I feel at home in the world no matter where I am, or who I am with, surrounded by total strangers in a foreign land or totally alone in a familiar or strange setting? Yes! We can learn to feel at home inside. If we are aligned with our inner guidance system, our true nature, who we know and feel we are as good people with a sense of belonging to oneself, comfortable in our own skin, then we consistently feel at home wherever we may roam. This conjures up the popular Metallica song “Wherever I may roam”. Lyrics copied here:

And the road becomes my bride
I have stripped of all but pride, so in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied, gives me all I need.

And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save, to the game you stay a slave
Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will

But I’ll take my time anywhere
Free to speak my mind anywhere
And I’ll redefine anywhere
Anywhere I roam, where I lay my head is home

And the earth becomes my throne
I adapt to the unknown, under wandering stars I’ve grown
By myself but not alone, I ask no one.

And my ties are severed clean
The less I have the more I gain, off the beaten path I reign
Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond
Call me what you will.’