Home is me

I spent the last couple days in Washington DC.  I was immediately seized with nostalgia for my previous home.  The hotel had views of the Potomac River and a sweep from Georgetown to the Washington Monument.  For dinner one night, I was the Pied Piper, leading a group of my colleagues from around the country across the river into Georgetown, with a stop at Georgetown Cupcake and a descent to Georgetown waterfront for dinner.  I felt at home all over again, and NY faded away.  I was in town a mere two days.

I took the late train back to NY last night, and arrived after midnight.  I felt immediately comfortable, and cheered by the activity in Penn Station and on the streets.  No problem to find a taxi, and there was a familiar amount of traffic on the ride home.  The driver dropped me off at a street corner, and there were pedestrians on my block as I pulled my luggage to my doorstep.  Once again I felt at home.

I have lived in quite a few places during my lifetime.  If you count as 'living in a place' as a summer or more, I've lived in nine places in the US and four places overseas.  My family and friends are scattered across the globe, and I am thankful for technology, which allows me to maintain warm and deep relationships despite the miles.

I've been reflecting on where 'home' is for me, and decided this morning that home is me.  I'm grateful to be comfortable in my own skin, to enjoy my own company, as I continue to make choices that lead me into new and different worlds, to make new friends and new communities as I also maintain ties to my cherished established ones.  I am also grateful to live in a time that allows me this freedom.  As I approach my 40th birthday, I revel in the feeling of being simultaneously grounded and centered and utterly free.