Wouldn’t it be something if there was a way to feel the comfort and safety of home – as if we were parked on the couch – no matter where we are or what we’re doing? Have you ever thought about that? Let’s talk.
After all, how can I take the comfort and safety of home with me – and use it for calming – if it holds no meaning?
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.
And especially applicable to this piece, home is where the heart is.
Intro
Going back 50 years to when my emotional and mental illness journey began, I couldn’t figure it out.
I mean, I’d feel comfortable and safe hanging around the house, but the moment I placed one foot out the door, all panic and anxiety hell would break loose.
Of course, it didn’t take long to put two and two together. But that didn’t mean I’d escaped Hades.
So I decided to go with reason, believing the hair on fire version of me was the exception and the comfortable and safe around the house edition was the rule.
The goal then became taking the comfort and safety of home with me when I crossed the threshold.
“There’s no place like home”
The expression “There’s no place like home.” is most often attributed to the 1823 song “Home, Sweet Home,” by John Payne and Sir Henry Bishop.
Pretty sweet opening…
‘Mid pleasures and palaces
Though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble,
There’s no place like home.
Actually, the idiom was widely used in England years before the song was written. Here’s an example from the September 1781 edition of the English newspaper The Bath Chronicle…
But this maxim mind –
No place like Home
For safety will you find
A little history never hurt anyone, right?
A “warm fuzzy?”
So “There’s no place like home” – is it a “warm fuzzy” to you or does it hit your heart and soul? By nature. it’s the latter for me. And really – it has to be.
After all, how can I take the comfort and safety of home with me – and use it for calming – if it holds no meaning?
Now it’s your turn
The mobile “home”
But what about you? Can you buy in to this application of “There’s no place like home?” Is it at least possible that you can feel the comfort and safety of “home” no matter where you are or what you’re doing? And what impact would it have on your emotional and mental state?
Of course, accepting the power of the concept is the first order of business. Then it’s on to putting it to work, which calls for self-examination, gaining insight into suspect patterns of thought and belief – and a lot of practice.
Ourselves
Being in the same position years ago, I wore this poem. You may find it meaningful…
Ourselves
After all
What can we be but ourselves
When it’s all torn down
And nothing’s left but who we truly are
Stripped to the bone
Exposed to all
There’s nowhere left to hide
No shelter from the storm
No propping scaffold
No diversion to deflect the truth
Only a direct gaze within
With a frightened blink of an eye
But upon unsettled earth
Unsteady legs gain strength
In steadfastness and blind forward energy
In tatters amidst the rubble
We come to know ourselves
And become whole
In a chance of a lifetime
Learn to look within
“There’s no place like home.” The idiom – the concept – that can deliver endless feelings of comfort and safety when we’ve ventured out. That is, if we’re willing to accept and develop it.
Are you living in a self-perceived high-risk world? If so, overcoming fear is likely a priority. Learn to look within for your coping arsenal. What better – more lasting – source of comfort and safety?
Would you like to read more Chipur info and inspiration articles? All you have to do is review the titles.
After a decades-long battle with panic, generalized anxiety, fluctuating moods, and alcohol dependence; Bill finally found his life’s passion and work – lending a hand to those in the same boat. At age 49 he hit grad school and earned his counseling credentials. And he continues his service through Chipur and other projects.
