Many people in this world are unfortunate enough not to have a home. I cannot envisage how absolutely terrible that must be. I have not only never been homeless but I have never lived in an unhappy home - albeit my life like most others has had some unhappy moments.
A few days ago I made the comment "I arrived home (yes, it is home - I can have more than one home can't I?) yesterday morning." Spesh commented that "A thought to ponder on - Can you have two homes? I don't think so. In my life home is not just where the heart (which we only have one of),is but where we pay our income tax!! N.Z. is a wonderful "abode" to enjoy for 6 months of the year."
This got me thinking. I have only one heart. But on many things (perhaps because I am a geminian) my heart is split. My heart is in the Hebrides were I have lived the larger part of my life and in New Zealand where I have lived partially since 2005. So on that criteria I have two homes. It's rather a minor point but I have paid New Zealand income tax on my bank interest here. An even more minor point is that the term 'Second home' is a common one.
For some people 'home' is not where they live anyway. Many, perhaps most, Scots living away from Scotland still refer to Scotland as their home even if they may never intend (other than in dreams) to visit Scotland ever again. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no affinity with the place where I was born and brought up.
In my experience (and it will be interesting to see what my American fellow bloggers say) Americans when asked the question invariably say the name of the State in which they are living at that moment. That's OK up to a point for me but I live each year equally in two places.
So where is home? I don't know. I don't really need home to be defined. I have one. I have two. The fact that I don't have no home [double negative intended for emphasis] means that I am blessed. For that I am grateful.
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Hhmmm. Thought provoking stuff. It's something I've pondered on before. I still think of Brisbane, where I grew up, as home. Maybe because my mother and 5 brothers and sisters still live there. And this is my "now" home.
ReplyDeleteI don't find the thought of two homes too strange. I know quite a few people who have pretty much duplicated their lives between a winter flat/house and a summer cottage. Most of them not as far apart as your two homes, but still! I also have friends who have one home in Sweden and one in Spain.
ReplyDeleteThe town and village where I grew up are no longer 'home' to me, but the town where I lived my first 10 years as young adult in some ways still is. I still have close friends there and my brother.
Too long in Scotland, don't have no, we'll be reading wee small next!
ReplyDeleteHave a good summer.
Everytime it rains I ask myself why I still live here. I've never lived more than 6 miles from where I was born. I'd love to go and live just about anywhere for the adventure of it. But my family are my home so I'd never go away forever.
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are lovely. I wish I had a nice view. Even a view in the rain would be better than nothing!
Yeah, why do I live here again?
Ah but when a Hebridean or indeed a Fifer asks 'where are you from?'. What do you say? Very few questions are guaranteed to annoy me more, I have to say. It's the sub-text that annoys, not my difficulty in answering the question.
ReplyDeleteI understand some of your thoughts but Home for me is always where I want to come back to - it is a little annoying to husband when we are half way across the Minch and I say "I don't really want to do this, I would rather be back in Upper Bayble."
ReplyDeleteHome is also where I want to end my days - not for a good number of years yet I hasten to add!
Yes, Home for me is definitely the Isle of Lewis even though I have only lived here for a tad over four years - my Hebridean friends mean the world to me so there is no contest - I have no need for a second "home". I am content with this one. x
I have lived in many different houses...each was a good place to live, served it's purpose for us but there are only a few that felt like "home" to me, Graham.
ReplyDeleteLet me think if I can explain the why of that...hmmmm...
Actually, other than this house that we now live in...there was only one other place that really had the feeling of home; it was the old farmhouse on County Road. Why? Maybe because it wasn't surrounded by so many other homes...hmmm... I can't say.
BUT - for me, home is where I truly LIVE - where I can rest myself, where I can feel freedom to be me in any part of it (inside/outside). Home is where I can say my things are, the things that I cherish.
These are all thoughts of the flesh, the outer part of self. Now, the inner part of self...my soul, well - I think you probably can guess what I'm going to say - My soul knows where HOME is and my soul longs for it :)
A building does not make a home a home. Your heart is what makes a home a home. Wouldn't you say?
Love to you.
And, so very glad to have you sharing again :)
Excellent post.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say you're right about Americans naming states, although I'd probably answer "South Jersey" not "New Jersey" if I was asked where home is. (I think most native New Jersians would have a similar reply.)
Although, I might also answer that home is wherever my partner is, and that would be just as accurate for me. If South Jersey ceased to exist tonight I would still have a home!
You're right. :^)
ReplyDeleteMy home (currently and for the last 28 years) has been in Oklahoma.
My soul still resides in New Mexico (where I was born.)
;^)