Like Bilbo Baggins, I am a reluctant traveler. There have been way too many travel days in the last few months. The reasons for leaving home-base have been positive – seeing the people I love and attending cool workshops. But at the end of it all, I’d rather be home with my corgi hanging out in my gardens or reading a book on the patio.
So the idea of home has been on my mind. I often think about people who were never able to go home and what that might feel like. My grandparents left Italy, friends, family and a place they knew intimately. They crossed an ocean and never were able to go back. They duplicated “home’ by creating Little Italy here, surrounding themselves with extended family and others who knew their language and customs. But certainly, there was an adjustment period. And maybe forever a part of their hearts and longing were tied to another place. My grandparents died when I was young and so I never asked them. I could be completely wrong. Maybe they never looked back.
I read somewhere that part of homesickness is caused by leaving a familiar electro magnetic field. Sadly, I cannot find any reference to this on line, but I didn’t find anything to disprove it either. The idea makes some sense. If geographic places have their own electro magnetic signature, we, as bioelectric beings, would resonate with that, like a tuning fork. And if we are sensitive to this field it would feel odd to be away from it.
However, we are also just creatures of habit. So simply missing the comfort and familiarity of a place we know may be reason enough to experience a longing for home. I am fascinated by the people I know who are adventurers, leaving home for long periods of time and loving it. That would be painful for me.
This week’s mindfulness focus is on home. What does the concept mean to us? What feelings does it invoke? What creates home? Is it a geographic place? A cluster of places? A feeling in the heart? If we take everything and everybody with us to a new place, is that home? We can also shine a light on the things we take for granted about home. I am very grateful this week to be HOME.
For more information on weekly mindfulness focus words click here.
Information on Electro-magnetic fields
Scientists Discover that Humans Have a Magnetic 6th Sense – This article does not mention homesickness specifically, but does make the case for how the electro-magnetic field affects us.
Earth’s Magnetic Fields Carry Biologically Relevant Information
