First a very quick note on upcoming events happening soon:
*8 week teleclass next Friday, March 29th 8 – 9:30 am Pacific time. Click link below to register. Now only 1 spot left.
http://workwithgrace.com/teleclasses-to-change/turning-relationship-hell-to-heaven/
*In-person Seattle 4 hour mini-retreats in Seattle: Saturdays, April 6th and May 18, 2013 1:30-5:30 pm $70 or $125 for both includes handouts, snacks, tea, small group
The other day I was thinking about homesickness. Someone mentioned that they felt terribly homesick when they were a child on a regular basis.
The feeling of being “at home” entirely 100% of the time is actually pretty elusive for many humans.
Sometimes, we go somewhere and have the feeling “THESE ARE MY PEOPLE!” I’ve heard this is the experience of “trekkies” attending Star Trek Conventions.
Sometimes, not so much. As when I once came across a huge dog-convention by accident when walking in a park in an unfamiliar town.
I was absolutely fascinated by the commitment, interest and focus by the hundreds of people I walked past, all with their dogs.
But I wasn’t homesick….so there’s something more to homesickness than feeling like you can’t relate or you don’t fit in or you don’t share an interest with others….although these qualities often rub salt in the wound.
Homesick in the dictionary means nostalgic for “home”, longing for home after some long absence from it.
So where is “home”, anyway? Is it in childhood? Is it the house you grew up in? Is it your favorite place you’ve ever lived? Is it your family? Is it a specific relationship? Is it your religion? Your spiritual path? Your body? A teacher?
Once you look at any of these, none of them are permanent, none of them last, none of them feel like home ALL the time.
Unless of course, you abide in yourself.
And what is that? What is YOURSELF?
Ahhh, the great mysterious and wonderful question of all time.
It’s been a process of elimination over many years. Kind of like the book “Are You My Mother?” that was read to me growing up.
Is Home here? Is Home there? Is Home up here? Is Home over that direction? Oi. So much traveling!
The mind will tell us that we need to hunt, seek, and discover very complex and endless locations or teachings before we can find “home”.
Never quite “getting” there, close but no cigar!
One of my favorite ways to stop the pushy, seeky, get-it type feeling is to REST. Just rest. Stop. Like you’re taking a big fat break.
Sit there for awhile. A good thing to “do” if your mind wants to do something incessantly is Inquiry.
Ask yourself what this resting place is. Look around. Ask yourself if it’s true that you have to find home, and you’re not there right now?
Are you sure you didn’t bring home with you?
“One must be willing to stand alone–in the unknown, with no reference to the known or the past or any of one’s conditioning. One must stand where no one has stood before in complete nakedness, innocence, and humility.” ~ Adyashanti
Maybe the weirdest places, the ones that at first seem unfamiliar, yet familiar, far away, yet close, are all a part of “home”. Maybe no matter how bizarre your environment, or how strange and unusual the atmosphere…home is present.
“We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.” ~ Tao Te Ching #11
Love, Grace