Not a place...a feeling
what home really means
"Home. Is it just a word or is it something you carry within you?"~ Morrissey
When you hear the word “home”, what pictures come up in your mind?
Do you think back to your childhood? Maybe it’s your first apartment?
What memories do you have? Perhaps you have lived in the same place for many years and you can’t imagine leaving it?
A few weeks ago I came across a Facebook memory that had me reflecting on what the word “home” really means… This is a memory that I wrote 13 years ago.
So much has changed for me personally since I wrote those thoughts. Perhaps the biggest change of all was my own understanding that change itself is a constant in life and something we must embrace.
Along with that change is the openness we must have to understanding that what defines a home is not just the familiar walls and rooms that surround us, but the people we share them with.
I have learned that people are really the center of your world and that sense of community and common love is the one thing that defines “home” for me…
Regardless of where I am staying, if I know that I am near love and acceptance, then I am home.
What do you think?
For information about why I started this newsletter, please go to the about section.
The word is…
In honor of my dear friend and mentor, Sister Agnes, I am choosing to focus each issue of my newsletter on one word.
This time our word is Home.
"Home is the nicest word there is." — Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tranquil Moments…
I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:
This week’s Smile video…
At the Shrimp Basket restaurant in Pensacola, Florida, a customer consistently ordered a cup of gumbo for lunch and for dinner for 10 years. When he didn't show up one week, the chef went to his house to check on him. Steve Hartman goes "On the Road" with the story, months later.
#believe #smilevideos #spreadkindnessandlove
What I am watching…
If you want to feel grateful for what you have, watch the 2020 movie Nomadland on Netflix.
Frances McDormand plays Fern, a widowed woman who loses everything in the economic collapse of a rural Nevada town. Packing her life in her van, she travels across the American west, working odd jobs and meeting other “nomads” who each have a unique story, and reason, for their circumstances.
Photo memories…
“We take photographs as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone…” Love this photo of my son Michael and I enjoying a family vacation many years ago…
Mind/Body connections…
Ease into your morning with this gentle, 10-minute yoga practice designed to awaken the body and invite clarity before the day begins.
Comedy Lift…
I love to share funny cartoons or memes with friends and family. Who doesn’t need to smile? Here’s this week’s Comedy Lift…
Music Moments
Music inspires me in many ways. Here’s The Wind by Yusuf/Cat Stevens...Enjoy!
Quote of the week
Until next week. Please remember…Begin and end each day with a grateful heart…and always, always be kind….
The Kindness Boomerang newsletter is a 2025 recipient of the Sunshine Blogger Award.