Sunday, June 03, 2012

The calling

Photo credit: unknown

Home calls. Sometimes. Perhaps we share the longing with all of life – whatever it is that makes the Salmon persevere against raging white melt waters; birds migrate over mountain ranges; wildebeest cross perilous waters in search of the familiar green pastures – also draws us to the place of our birth, the memories of our childhood, warm winds, big rain drops, the luscious green of grass and tall trees, the gravel road along the foothills that leads us there… they all tug at our hearts urging, encouraging and cheering us on when we journey back. 

It is not just the comfort of familiar surroundings or the nurturing company of loved ones we seek, or a shallow indulgence of overly romanticised memories of bygone days. Home is more than that. It is the ultimate refuge of every traveller when all others are merely resting places. It is the assurence of safety and comfrort at the end of an arduous journey, the retreat where we renew and rediscover ourselves.

It is not a house or a place on a map. It is a state of mind, a feeling, a peaceful satisfaction. We glimpse it in what we love to do and in the people we love to be with. Perhaps it is the secret place in our hearts where we hope to find every happiness imaginable. It is the aspiration we all share, the warmth of an embrace, a thoughtful act that fills us with grattitude and the smile that confirmes we've reached our destination.

Home is where our final journey starts, the soil in which our lives take root, where memories blossom and life itself fades into eternity. Even as we flutter with the breeze and bask in the sun like leaves on a perched branch, the longing to glide back to the base of our roots churn within us; because home is where we dissolve in the rich earth, to be created anew.

6 comments:

Gutterflower said...

Beautiful.
I've been grappling with what home is for me. If it's a state of mind, then clearly it's a state which has constantly eluded me. I remain hopeful though.

halwis said...

Thank you Gutterflower! It's good to see you around these neck of the woods.
If it is of any consolation, I am a long way from home myself - in every sense of the word - a fellow traveller striding along the long winding roads if you will. Like you, hope draws each step and every panting breath. The view keeps getting better - but more and more, home seems like a place within?! :)

Unknown said...

having a muse obviously works! :-S

Hasini said...

"It is not a house or a place on a map. It is a state of mind, a feeling, a peaceful satisfaction".

Beautifully said Harendra ...:) we all are stumbling in the dark to reach that place, aren't we? but they say home is within, which is rather comforting to know. :)

halwis said...

Cousin: Yes it does. But there has not been much musing for a while now.

Springflower: Thanks! I think I am still struggling to find the words to describe it because I have not found or seen it yet - within or without. Maybe I never will, maybe we are destined to be wonderers because such a place does not even exist? I don't know...
Perhaps it is the promise of home makes us hopeful of finding it, but I wonder whether I will be perceptive enough to recognise it if/when I do.

Hasini said...

:) Looking outward from a darkened 'within' right now..all I have is a hope that there 'must' be such a place. It's existence is the only thing that keeps me going when I contemplate the meaning of life for I do not see any other meaning to life (maybe its just my ingrained pessimism).
As for being able to recognise it when we arrive..I sure hope we will recognise it because I think we would need to develop perception/awareness as a prerequisite to reach this place/state one day (if ever) :)