A Home Can Be Anywhere

Many of us live with multiple people in our houses, but not all is there for you when you needed them the most, everyone has a meal to share, but no one to share with, everyone has a house, but not everyone has a home. The question is, what is a home? Is a house a home? What makes a home, a home? A house with perfectly painted walls and neat furniture is not necessarily a home. It’s just a structure. Your home might be a place, like your grandparents’ house that you grew up in, it could be a person that you love, it could be an object like that teddy bear you cuddle close to when you sleep at night. Your home can be anything that brings you comfort. Your home is your special place, you have a special relationship with your home that is so precious. It’s where you go to when you need help, it’s where you go to when you feel upset, it’s where you go to when everything feels heavy. A home is not about how much time you spend with your special place, it’s about how you feel and enjoy being around with your special place. However, everyone’s home is different. Your home could be your bedroom, a hobby that you love doing the most, or it could be the smell of your grandma’s cooking. There is no wrong or right answer to your home. But what does everyone’s home have in common? What does home mean to other people? I asked 4 friends the same 2 questions: “What does a home mean to them?” and “How do you know if your home is not your home anymore?” “What does a home mean to you?” No. 1“Home is indefinite. Your home can be an object that is sentimental, a loved one, or a location that you feel welcome in every time you visit. However, what makes a home a home is when your home makes you feel safe and comfortable, so that you can be yourself around your special place.” No. 2: “For me, a home is more like where I feel safe and happy, where I can express my thoughts and feelings without being judged.” No. 3: “Family and love. Without love and care, my home is not a home.” No. 4: “To me, home means safety, comfort, and love.” “How do you know if your home is not your home anymore?” Friend No. 1: “When you no longer have that special relationship with your home anymore.” Friend No. 2: “If I can’t express my feelings and thoughts without being judged, then my home is not my home anymore.” Friend No. 3: “If I lose someone I love, then it doesn’t feel like home anymore. It’s not the same.” Friend No. 4: “If I don’t feel safe and comfortable around my home, then I don’t consider it as one.” While we all have different perspectives on what a home means, all our homes share 4 common qualities: love, safety, happiness, and comfort. Imagine a home, where there’s no love, no safety, and you can’t be comfortable. That is not a home. A house is nothing but a structure without love, without safety, and without comfort. And as someone who had just moved into a new country, my family and I don’t have a house to call our own. However, through the new friendships I’ve made, and the struggles my family and I have faced, I truly believe I’ve found my new home: The loud shouts when my friends and I are supporting each other, the cousins I share my fights that eventually turn into laughter in the end, and the warmth of love and care my family gives me everyday, are what I call “my home”. No matter what your home is or where it is, it holds far more value than money and cannot be bought anywhere else. Money can come back, but the memories you make with your special place cannot be replaced by money. At the end of the day, a home can be anywhere. It doesn’t matter where it is. As long as you feel safe, happy, comfortable, and loved in your home, there truly is no wrong answer to where it is. Home sweet home.