No Place Like Home

It’s hard to believe we’re nearly a week into 2015! Though I’m not one for resolutions, I did have every intention of writing this on January 1st. But I’ve been busy coming home–both to my apartment and to myself.

As you may know, 2014 presented me with the opportunity and the necessity of renting out my place for income. I certainly enjoyed the hospitality aspect of having guests. My family name is “Inman” so I suppose inn keeping is in my blood! But the nomadic nature of life became more than a little tiring.

Three kids and a dog sharing airbeds and basement floors can go from adventurous to harrowing faster than you’d think.

What surprised me was how reluctant I was to admit that I’d had enough. When I finally felt secure enough to stop booking guests, I was most excited by the prospect of spreading myself out at my desk. At last my notes, journals, angel cards–all the little parts of me that I’ve been stuffing in drawers the last year–could be strewn about with abandon!

It was in this happy pile that I came across an exercise from my life coach. My assignment was to speak to myself at various ages and ask “what do you need from me?” When I asked my inner 16-year-old that question, she told me that she wanted to stay in one place; this was understandable, since by my sophomore year my family had moved more times than I can count. Yet I hadn’t understood. Only when I saw this desire written in my own hand was I struck by the clarity of it, and by the cavalier way I’d dismissed it.

This is what I mean by coming home to yourself. It’s learning to listen to your exquisitely-wired internal sound system. It’s welcoming in all aspects of yourself, even the ones who track mud on the floor, or drive you crazy with outrageous demands.

And one doorway into a feeling of being at home with yourself can literally be the front door to your physical space.

So this month I’ll be sharing thoughts and practical suggestions about shifting the energy in your home, as well as ways to undertake an “internal housecleaning.” The two are intimately linked!

Come on in….let’s get comfortable with saying “there’s no place like home.”