Home is more than just a place. It’s a very powerful concept. It’s what makes us comfortable, what we’re familiar with, what makes us feel like everything is all right. Home is our place in the world. It’s where the question, “why am I here?” no longer feels confusing to think about. It all makes sense.

Home is where we understand, and are understood. Are you at home with yourself? Do you have anyone to be at home with?

I think that one of the greatest feelings I get in life is the feeling that I helped somebody come home. That no matter what they’ve been through, I was able to get into their world and understand them, and let them know in no uncertain terms that I understand. That they don’t have to be anybody else or say anything else. That it’s ok.

I just crave moments like that. That’s where I’m at home. That’s a big reason I write this blog… hoping that those who read it can find some understanding and a sense of home. For when you are at home, understanding and being understood, that’s when you can rest, recharge, and go back out there and make the most of yourself. Be the constructive, forward-thinking force that society, family and friends need you to be (even if your strength is expressed very quietly or invisibly – it still counts just as much). Be what you need you to be – so that your regrets may be few to none in life.

The road home is not always a smooth and straight one. And, once we are home, our ensuing sense of purpose very often shoots us back out into the world. Few people are truly satisfied staying in one place, even though many believe that they are satisfied this way. Home only truly becomes home if you leave it every once in a while. For sometimes, home will change: sometimes, a place you used to call home, no longer feels like home. Be ready for those times, so that you can leave and more easily find home once again.

Wherever you are in life, whatever your current situation, I urge you: do not merely ask yourself if you are happy: Ask yourself if you are home – or at the very least, if you know where home is, and can come back to it when you need to. This is one of the keys to living a fulfilled life, through both hardship and joy.