I've made a mistake.The one mistake that you should never make before you head out on a new adventure.
I've gotten comfortable.
Whenever I've previously set out on a somewhat impulsive adventure it's been to escape- escape the predictable day-to-day of a life I had grown used to, escape some sort of personal turmoil that I knew didn't have a chance of following me to the other side of the world, escape my own expectations.
And now? Now I don't feel like I have anything to escape anymore. It's taken awhile, but I now appreciate my home.
And so, taking off to our new city all of a sudden seems more difficult than I had expected. I get attached to people and places easily (we all know this), but this is different. Something about the Bay Area has a hold on me.
The joy I feel walking the streets of San Francisco on a sunny day, or hiking Mt. Diablo, or driving highway 24 at sunset is unsurpassed. This place is inside of me in a permanent, lifelong love affair kind of way.
I know I'll be back, it's just a matter of time.
Now on the other hand, the one thing I have learned over the past few years is that home is also something you carry with you. It's a feeling you create inside yourself. It's the people you surround yourself with, and those you keep in your heart. And so, sometimes, your physical home is less important than the one you have created for yourself. If you carry your home with you, you'll never be homesick.
I'm thankful that my home is brimming with an utterly eclectic mix of people and experiences.
In the kitchen (the heart) is my family, chatting over Sunday dinner.
In one room are my London loves, laughing over pints and sharing gossip.
In the backyard are my oldest, dearest friends soaking up the California sun.
Through the hallways people who have passed through my life at crucial moments mingle, speaking all sorts of different languages and eliciting waves of nostalgia.
At the front door is Matt, the newest addition to my home. The other occupants don't really know him yet- but they're a welcoming bunch so I'm not too worried.
And so, though my physical home is temporarily relocated as I open this new chapter, the doors to the home in my heart are open- and all are welcome.
Image by Jeremy Sutton
