What Does It Really Mean To Leave Home?

A look inside of what it really feels like on the edge of a new chapter of your life.

What does it mean when we are leaving home? What do we call the transformation from everything we have ever known to a blank slate? Adventure? Starting new? A leap of faith? Is there a word that can ever capture the feeling of using your new found wings to leave home and everyone you once knew? Oliver Holmes once said “Where we live is home. Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” I understand what he is trying to say here, but should we really be leaving pieces of our hearts around or do these become ties that eventually hold us down? If you have ever left home you know that there is a thin line between excitement and contemplation. At first it is new and exciting to leave everything behind for a fresh start but once you begin to say your goodbyes you look at someone with the wonder of when or if you will see them again and you begin to reconsider. It triggers thoughts of whether or not this will go the right way, what bad things will happen, and if you’re making the right decision. Truthfully there is no ‘right way’ or ‘right decision’ but rather a thread of hope and the trust that everything will eventually fall into place. Your last hugs linger a little longer than they should and when you let go it may feel like you’re hurting them more than yourself. In the back of your mind you know that every one should leave ‘home’ at some point. But home is really just relative to you. Home is where you are comfortable, a place you can come back to and feel safe. Because without leaving the only thing you have known how will you find who you’re supposed to become? At the fence of something new is the beginning of opportunities, and unfortunately opportunities do not remain lament within a box. I guess in all, yes, leaving home is a lot harder than you built it up to be. Saying goodbye to your family and friends may feel in some ways disappointing. But ask yourself; would it not be more disappointing if you missed your chance to find a new perspective? Grow as a person? I believe everyone needs to get up, move away, and see reality differently. Bonus if it involves getting away from small towns where everyone knows everything. Small steps make even bigger leaps, even if that means trip over your own feet on the way there.