I’m thinking hard about this one. Having lived in about 24 different “homes” over the years, I never had a fixed abode, that abiding reference point that a place one has lived in for decades provides. My parents moved five times during their marriage, and my grandparents about the same, so no single physical location evokes home for me. I do feel “home” often enough, but the place I’m in when I’m feeling that way might be my current residence, or it could belong to someone else.
Perhaps I feel most at home when I leave the building where I live and lose myself somewhere outdoors. The surroundings may be grand or they may be plain, but when I’m outside, absorbed in what I see and hear and smell and feel, the separate sense of myself as “I” can disappear. And that’s Home.
Leaving the building called “home” to find Home outdoors, at an early age.
A rural intersection in North Carolina – at that moment it felt like home to me.
Staten Island’s industrial shoreline – chain link fence, railroad tracks, electrical wires, cranes…I was home free when I took this picture, inspired by the possibilities of color and patterns and lost into the rawness of the moment.
A road somewhere in New York curves out of view…follow it, and maybe I’ll be Home.
Other notions of home can be found here:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/photo-challenge-home/
bluebrightly 
I soooo enjoy your perspective…well said, Lynn…when you’re outside and absorbed in what you can see, hear, smell, and feel and you lose the sense of “I.” Truly wonderful….
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And what compelling, photos, too. 🙂
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Thanks – I appreciate it!
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🙂
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THank you Scott – much appreciated.
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You’re welcome.
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I empathize with your experiences of the home concept, many similarities. I’ve built a couple of dream houses… in the wrong places; helped others build theirs… when the homes were done I was of no further use. Now I’m mobile, living in a small trailer, work will determine where it next gets parked. I own 5 acres of pinon and cactus in New Mexico, there’s nothing on it, and that’s just fine. Property taxes average $15.00 a year. The “development” it’s in consists of a hundred or so other 5 acre parcels, also with nothing on them. The name of the development is Valle de Manana… “Tomorrows Valley”… too funny.
Thanks for sharing your ‘home’, I share mine through the photos and words in my posts. The earth at large is my home, and I’m still trying to be content with the notion. There’s a lot of freedom in not having significant physical possessions, yet having little or no security in a culture obsessed with it is annoying at times. There is no destination anymore, simply the journey.
Peace
🙂
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Thank you! Very interesting…I do have a fantasy sometimes of living the way you’re living now but am not quite there. So you’re living in Tomorrow, rooted in today? I know the land is important to you, so how wonderful to have 5 acres of it, and I can smell the pinon…(when I went to southern Utah I brought a pinon cone home & kept it inside a little box so I could inhale the scent from time to time). I appreciate your saying that though it’s clear the earth at large is your home, it’s not always an easy choice.
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Lovely interpretations of the challenge, Lynn. I really liked the last photo, the composition and the black and white treatment. It’s beautiful.
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Ah, thank you – I’m glad.
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I like the notion of home being the outside of your house. I know what you mean about the surroundings. I too have lived many places in my life, and what I love most about those places is the surrounding landscapes and what they offer in the way of exploration. I LOVE your photos. And little Lynn skipping down the road looks like a very happy camper. 🙂
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Thank you for your thoughts. No surprise they would resonate with you, too. I’m glad you enjoy the photos. The way you phrase it – home being the outside of your house – is just different enough from the way I was thinking that it broadens the idea for me.
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Yes, no matter where I am when my soul relaxes into the world around me I’m home. I know what you mean, I think. And for the first time in my life, my current house, yard and community make me feel that way over and over again. I feel free here. And I have often thought ‘free to be me’ is good, but you made me see it more deeply…’free to not even need to be me’. Just to see and feel and be. That’s home.
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Fantastic – what a great thing to recognize. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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Oh, and I absolutely love the first photo. Special…thanks for sharing it with us.
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Very nice perspective, and I totally understand your feelings. I feel very much at home when the sky is my ceiling and the earth is my floor!
The photos are great!!!
Good work, amiga!
z
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It’s clear that you’re very much at home in the outdoors, Lisa – thanks – glad you like the photos, and I appreciate your comments.
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i love your pict.. chain link fence, railroad tracks, electrical wires, cranes, bridge and sunset!
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I’m glad – and thank you for taking the time to tell me!
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It’s strange and beautiful how we sometimes get sudden flashes of “home” while in places we’ve never before visited.
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Absolutely.
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You have produced an interesting array of different perspectives. ‘Home’ is an illusive word with so many alternative definitions available. I find it easiest to pin down when I am away, especially if I am abroad. I then become more sharply aware of the things I most value about being at home, wherever the physical location of that home might be. For me the most important components are physical and emotional security.
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Your honesty is disarming – but then you are always a “no BS’ kind of person, I think, and I appreciate that. Thank you!
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Wow, your post really touched me. I must admit, I did not put as much time & effort into my version of “home” as it appears you did, but now that I have read what you wrote, it really resonates with me. I agree that real home seems to be wherever you are more present, focusing on the “now,” and letting go of our external identities. If one is lucky enough to have that happen on a regular basis, then one really is home, and free, at the same time…
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I’m glad you got something out of this post, and I really appreciate your taking the time to comment – and please, your post for “Home” is lovely! And you blog is full of interesting observations – thanks for visiting!
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Really thoughtful post…and wow, Lynn, you’ve certainly lived in a lot of places.
I know it’s a bit off-topic but I’d to compliment your black and white rural road in New York. It’s a lovely image.
And…your childhood photograph is a lesson in why photographs take on a life of their own.
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Thank you very much, John – never off topic to hear any feedback about a photo! And I see what you’re saying – layers and layers of meaning can get attached to a particular image as time goes on.
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I like your idea of home. To me, outdoors and nature is home too. It is where I feel most free to be myself .
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I can see that! Thanks for scrolling back and taking the time to comment.
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I love the meaningful split of the Staten Island shore. As a Brooklyn resident i can relate to that picture and I find it very engaging.
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That makes sense!
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