Whenever I hear the song, “There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays” I well up. Home means so much to me.
I recall how, several years ago, a fellow coach was so sad because, as a military family, she and her husband and their children moved often.
She felt like she never felt “at home,” especially during the holidays and they were away overseas.
And then I remember Martha Beck, author of one of my favorite books, Steering By Starlight, telling her that home was everything that she chose to create for her family, no matter where she was. It wasn’t a place… or, at least, it didn’t have to be.
You don’t need a house to feel at home.
It was so reassuring to me. And I have a home. A beautiful, warm, love-filled home.
You don’t need a house to feel at home. You can take your home with you wherever you go.
My coach friend experienced a big shift that day, thanks to Martha’s beautiful wisdom. She immediately understood that she had the power to direct her mind to create a feeling of home for herself and her family.
Nothing had changed except her mind.
I know the holidays are difficult for so many people. Even for those who have a home but don’t feel “at home.” My heart goes out to them. I want everyone to have a sense of home.
And yet…
So many people will not have what I wish for them.
They will struggle through the holidays, which seem to cast a great big spotlight on the loneliness that is already there.
It’s hard to accept that this is their struggle. That no matter what I may do to help even one person, so many others will not be helped.
I have learned to trust that there are things that will never make sense to me, a mere mortal, and that I must be ok with that or I will bring on my own unnecessary suffering.
My duty, to my Self and to the world, is to feel good in my own home. To accept, with grace, that I have been blessed with a deep sense of home. I have people whom I love profoundly and who love me back fiercely.
And my wish is that you have a home filled with love for the holidays and always.
With love,
Lin E
