Home isn't a Place, its a Feeling

When I was younger home only meant one thing to me. It was the place that I lived in. Even after my parents spit, home was where my dad lived and the other was where my mom lived. It was those houses, even if they changed every now and then.

As I got older I began to realize that home wasn't really just the houses I lived in. Sometimes I felt like I was at home when I was with friends or family. I realize now that I felt that way because home truly isn't just a place. But there are a few places where I feel like I belong.

One thing I had easily come to love about Oregon was the endless beauty in the sunsets and sunrises. I've been in several parts of Oregon but no matter where you find yourself in this state you'll always catch a good one. These sunsets and rises have had a special way of making me feel right at home, whether im just sitting on my porch with a cup of joe, or driving late in the day. They never fail to put me in complete awe.

I feel at home when I'm spending time with my family. It doesn't matter if we're just hanging out in the house or if we're going on adventures. I love going on family camping trips and vacations and exploring the new towns that we would end up in. Even if it was our family getaway to Florida, for that week I still felt like I was at home as long as I was making memories with my family.

Sometimes I feel at home when it rains. The way that rain smells has always been one of my favorites. Since I've lived in Oregon for a while now I've come to love when it rains all because I love the way it smells. I used to dislike rain so much. Now in a way, even it makes me feel at home. I also cant forget to mention that it feels like you can always find a rainbow in Oregon.

Other than just my family I feel like I am home when I'm with my friends, people that make me feel like I'm on top of the world sometimes. It doesnt matter if I'm on a group trip with them or each individually, being with them crammed in a small hotel room feels like home. I'm home when we have music blasting in a car while we take midnight drives with the windows open to let the wind blow through.

I even felt right at home when I took my best friend to go see my favorite movies The Empire Strikes Back when they played it in theaters for the first time in years. An experiance I never thought I was going to have. It was ten times better than I could have imagined because I had someone with me that made me feel at home.

I feel right at home when it the middle of summer and no matter how warm it is we always go outside to paint rocks because it something the whole family could do and my friends siblings too.

I know I would always feel at home when I was in my dads garage listening to him talk about the car he was working on or what his day at work had been like. I had always liked the way the sound of his voice made me content, made me feel at peace. Even if at the time I didnt apprecatie it the way I do now. I felt at home when I got my first tattoo with my mom and she was there to distract me from the pain. Its the way I can put beautiful smiles on her face after I paint her new pictures to hang on the walls.

Sometimes when I want to escape from the world, home becomes the hours that I spend between shelves of books. The way that old paper smells and how I can get lost in other worlds.

For the past few years, for as long as I could understand, home has never really been a town for me. It hasn't been a house or a place. Home has always been in the time that I could spend with my family. Blood and chosen. Home is in the moments that I play with my siblings, hug my mom, talk to my dad.

When I was younger I believed that I could only feel at home as long as I was in a home. I understand now that it means so much more to me than that.

Even when I find myself in different places my home will always be in those memories, moments and the people that I shared them with.

I know this challeneged asked to talk about your hometown and in a way I showed you the place I live but I hope I conveyed just how different it is to what I consider to be home.