Making the Home Lights Bright

Undoubtedly, one of the unfortunate dilemmas of youth is the overwhelming desire and energy to "Go" and the inadequate supply of funds to do it. I can't complain, I get to travel quite often yet it seems I never get to go where I really want to go.

I'm not quite sure where that is but if I close my eyes it looks like the Shire, Prince Edward Island and Paris rolled into one.

Sometimes, I can sit for hours listening to "Bright Lights and City Scapes" imagining where I'll go but for now, this week, I'm still here.

So I worked on making the home lights brighter, content to be here even if I am alone.

So I decided to try out my handy-women skills. Thankfully, my ends justified my means because the road to success was both broken and bloody. I choose not to let the multiple bruises, blood or broken ceiling fans deter me and, in the end, I was successful.

I cooked almost everyday.

I read a book for pleasure and tossed deadlines to the wind.

I talked to my dog.

I laughed with friends and had meaningful conversations by moonlight on the porch swing.

I got ice cream on rainy days and brought some home to my dog.

I stayed up till 2am with my part-time roomie eating pizza on top of a file cabinet promising to only watch "one more episode" of our favorite show.

I played piano at any time the whim struck.

I looked through pictures and cards I collected and treasured the memories, happy or sad.

A funny thing happened then, the feeling to "Go" and see it all wasn't quite so unbearable. The lights were bright when I came back each night and there was a that true feeling of "Home" that seems to be missing when I'm here alone.

The outside world seemed especially harsh last week, the days seemed to cycle between extreme pity parties and the intensely awkward.

Most times, I don't seek out the adventures, they seem to find me but this week, I created my own, right here at home in the most pleasant of ways. Whether I woke up the next day with unidentifiable bruises or found myself alarmingly covered in puzzle pieces (unnoticed until I entered the bathroom) or discovered, yet again, that I had put my clothes on inside out, the adventure at home, the small alone kind, were the ones  I looked forward to most.

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.” 
― Louisa May Alcott