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“Home” has taken on different meanings as I’ve gotten older.
As a kid, home was synonymous with a house on a dead-end street and a driveway covered in chalk flowers. I thrived in the routine of returning to that safe and familiar space. However, throughout the years, my move to college and shifts in relationships and interests repeatedly challenged me to question: where and with whom do I feel at home?
We all yearn for connection and belonging—to sit around a table and to feel seen and known. It can be discouraging when that longing is met with fractured and evolving realities of “home.” I am learning that, though it takes time and patience, our safe spaces can be beautifully redefined.
We all yearn for connection and belonging—to sit around a table and to feel seen and known.
These days, more places—like my best friend’s kitchen table, my grandparents’ sunroom, a little shop in my college town and the corner table at my favorite cafe—offer me a sense of peace and comfort. In this shift, I am reminded that home is often more dependent on the people we share it with than the location it is in.
Whatever home looks like for you in this season, may you hold onto the truth that you are worthy of belonging.
Home is often more dependent on the people we share it with than the location it is in.
With love,
Rachel Johnson, the Darling family
How has your definition of home changed throughout time? How can you hold onto the safety and comfort of home in life’s transition?
Image via Stephanie Williams, Darling Issue No. 13
