Come home for the holidays…
Guest Blog from Mary E. Knippel, Your Writing Mentor
There’s no place like home for the holidays…that’s what the song says.
What does home mean to you? What does it look like?
It can be a
place…specific geographic location
feeling…when we are lost in reading/writing our favorite genre
person… representing that sense of well-being
I believe home is whatever makes you feel always welcome, comfortable, nurtured, and cherished.
Thomas Wolfe said, “we can’t go home again.”
I agree with Mr. Wolfe that you can’t go “home” again. It is physically and emotionally impossible to return to the specific point in time we yearn to revisit. Picture a six-year-old, cuddled up on Grandma’s lap being smothered with kisses and attention, a 12-year-old who won that science award, when you had that first confirmation of your writing abilities and say your by-line “published” in the junior college literary magazine.
Dorothy figured out that “there’s no place like home.”
I am also in agreement with Dorothy. As much as she found Oz magical, Kansas was her real land of enchantment of family, friends, and connection to her heart. Wherever we call home, that address possesses the ability to inspire ease and delicious comfort for us.
“I long,” Maya Angelou tells us, “as does every human being, to be at home within myself.”
Ah yes, I fully embrace Maya Angelou’s sentiments. As much as it is important to have an environment, which fosters an atmosphere of growth and understanding, we cannot ever hope to be at “home” in any physical surroundings, if we are not first at “home” within ourselves. The address could be a palace, grand estate, or a tiny apartment, but if you are not comfortable in your own skin…are you really living a life unleashed?
How do you come to be at home within yourself?
The answer is not simple… it is a lifelong journey.
I believe the inside track in finding the path to be at home within yourself is to write. Writing allows you to reach down deep inside yourself. Writing is how you bridge the gap between the surface story and the emotional drama below the façade.
What does home mean to you?
During this season of giving, stop all the hustle and bustle to give yourself some time…indulge in a little “me” time and curl up with your journal and a cup of tea.
About Mary E. Knippel
Mary E Knippel, Book Mentor and the founder of Your Writing Mentor, supports small business owners and entrepreneurs who have been saying "someday I'll write my book" to finally write that book to grow their businesses. After working with Mary they were no longer at a loss of where to start nor did they question who would want to hear what they had to say anyway? If you are ready to change your "someday I'll write a book" to "Writing my book starts TODAY," contact Mary at mary@yourwritingmentor.com.