Herbs and home

A special corner in the house: I harvested the last of the rosemary, lavender and bee balm, and brought them indoors to keep me connected and grounded during the winter months. Sena made the basket.

“The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” ― Maya Angelou

Home can be a comforting word and sense and feeling, especially at this time of the year, when we and the natural world around us visibly draw inwards. The exuberance and outward expression of summer is gone, and we instinctively feel the yearning for home: a safe place, where we can be as we are, heal whatever we need to heal in ourselves, and replenish. Home may or may not be a physical space; for me it is a combination of physical and non-physical.

Home is also an emotional and spiritual space, where we feel connected in a way that makes us feel understood, loved, held, not judged; in a way that allows us to heal from whatever is troubling us. We can feel at home with a human, an animal or any part of the natural world, a special object, etc. The manifestations of home are so personal, but the feeling of home, and the yearning for it, I think are universal.

Though home is that important, and we yearn for it, many people across the social spectrum, rich, poor, etc., are in one sense or another homeless (and many animals too).

I think of those without a physical home. Those who lost their home in a natural disaster, those who are afraid of being in their own home because of an abusive relationship, those who cannot be at home because they're in a hospital, or prison... And also, those who suffer from not having a spiritual/emotional home.

So my wish for everyone at this time is that you may find a little space to feel at home in, a little place where you're comforted and not afraid, and that you may be able to rest and replenish and heal, and enjoy it.

Peace