Day 4 - 335 -- Home

Home -- a simple, short word but one packed with so much meaning and emotion. I've had a couple  of interesting conversations this week about what home means. One with a health professional friend was dealing with the pain of placing a loved one in memory care as dementia takes them away bit by bit. Similarly to others who enter a long term care facility, there is often the request, wish or demand to go home. Often the idea is taken quite literally by listeners, when it may not mean back to their recent abode, but rather it represents that nebulous feeling of belonging and safety. I had been thinking of this as I've heard several friends discuss the guilt that such requests engender. I feel I may now have something to say that might help put things in perspective for such conversations in the future. It isn't always a place, but more a feeling.  This fits with another piece of information that I encountered this week -- while memory will leave, the emotional self remains in dementias. So, while the person may not remember who came to visit that day, they recall the feeling of happiness and love. It is an entirely different way of interacting with the world -- one that isn't always tied up in sadness.

Home is where my head goes during stress. During times of heightened anxiety, I will often find myself in dreams in my grandmother's dining room, which served as both dining and living room. This intrigued me. Then one day when going through old photos with my parents, I came across a picture of me standing in a crib in that room. During the first 6 months of my life we lived with my mother's parents while Dad was building the house I grew up in. Until that moment in time, I didn't know I'd lived at Gramma's, and yet my brain always found that feeling of home -- safe, warm, loved -- in that room. I've always maintained brains are amazing things <smile>. So, while the structure itself brings aspects of home to mind, it is likely that the word embodies a concept of comfort more than an edifice.

The song that kept returning to my head while I pondered this throughout the day is by a Canadian singer and co-songwriter. The words and music embody the emotional aspect of a definition of home.

Moving back to the nascence of the blog, holiday music during December, today a second selection is included. This is a country Christmas version of the main song, which features the singer/songwriter along with a deeper voiced, country artist. Interesting pairing. Enjoy!

Home -- Michael Buble

Home -- Blake Shelton ft. Michael Buble