What is "Home"?

What constitutes “home”? As my daughter travels to the refugee camps on the Chad/Darfur border, I hear repeated over and over how strong the desire is to be at home. It’s got me thinking about how I define home.

1) The place where I have the freedom to state my opinion without any more fear of reprisal than lively discussion with friends and family is my political home.
2) The place where I come into contact with the divine is my spiritual home.
3) The place where love is waiting for me is my emotional home.
4) The place where laughter and good cheer abounds with others is my social home.
5) The place where I find shelter from the storm is my earthly home.
6) The place I go to use and expand my knowledge is my intellectual home.
7) The place that I have a hand in shaping is my creative home.
8) The place where I invest my resources is my fiscal home.
9) The place that contains my memories is my historical home.
10) The place that connects me to who I am is mine and my responsibility.

I suppose the list could go on and on. Some of us find these things grounded in one place, some of us wander our entire lives and only find a few of them. I’ve found them in a tent on the side of a frozen mountain, swimming in the ocean, in a bungalow on Queen Anne in Seattle, in my daughter’s eyes. I can only hope to give back to these places what they have given me, but I know that’s only a dream, because they have given to me so abundantly.