Tuesday, December 2, 2014

A Fish Out Of Water

… is how it feels to be away from home. I once read somewhere that home is not a place, it’s a feeling. I guess, I now know what it feels. While I perpetually live the internet fed frenzy of the latest and the greatest from around the world, there are times I want to keep up with nothing. For really, I just want some neighborhood gossip. Or an update on what happened to that grey stray cat I saw on stairs last night. Or news about the new building watchman. Just some people who see me and give a familiar nod, or a familiar disapproval. That’s okay too.

Familiarity is a huge problem. When you’re surrounded by people who know you, who are like you and who act like you, the feeling of home becomes suddenly attainable. Made easy with familiar hugs, familiar tastes, and familiar smells. The absence of this familiarity is how I define foreignness. Foreignness is a feeling where you feel you’re on a never-ending vacation. You might think its good. But in long-term, its toxic. Its what Dr. Suess called 'the waiting place'. For as long you are aware you're foreign, you're aware you're not home. I would like to feel home today. Is that possible Universe? Can I please be home today?