Home is anywhere you find peace and fulfilment, anywhere you are free to be yourself, express yourself and still be accepted. It could also be within the confines of a building, although not all the time. Growing up, i was a bit hyperactive and troublesome. I would go outside and look for trouble and when a fight starts, i would run back home where i know i will be safe and my brother’s​ would fight for me. To me, my home was my safe haven, my dad my hero, my mom my mentor and my siblings my best support system. It didn’t matter where i was, i would always want to run back home. 

Over the years i have discovered that a lot of people do not feel at home in their homes, nor use their voices in their ​own homes. We must have all heard of the saying “Home is where the heart is.”right? For me, my home isn’t just a place where i eat and sleep, it’s also a place where i find peace, a place where i don’t have to hide what I feel and how i feel. It serves a greater purpose than simply a place where i hide my head and my possessions. For many others a home is just a place where they rest their head and not their hearts. Some can not even wait for morning to come before they run out because they can’t stand the drama that will unfold with the breaking of dawn.

I have a couple of friends who each time we talk about going home gets really scared and reluctant. They would rather be out there than in there. The closure they need can’t be found in their homes. The idea or concept of home is different for many people and still has very important position in some cultures. In Africa, the people are attached to their homes. No matter where they are, what happens, there’s always the longings to be home. Amongst the igbos, the home is a “sacred shrine” where the parents gets to make all the decisions and the rest of the family follows suit whether they like it or not. But thankfully, all that is beginning to change. For the yorubas every member of the family will always be a part of the family even when they die and that explains why they bury their dead in the house.
It’s disheartening when you hear people talk about their homes negatively but then i understand because they wear the shoes and definitely knows where it pinches them. Even now there is hardly any place where a person may feel more secure and protected from the dangers of the outer​ world but still,most of our pleasant associations are often connected with our homes. For it was there most of us spent the days of our childhood and youth. So, wherever we may roam there’s no place like home.  

The home is often the best school for acquiring noble virtues like sincerity, obedience, sympathy, faithfulness, honesty, sacrifice, self denial. It is from there we learn to be sympathetic, caring, obedient, truthful, and unselfish even though this is not always the point. The devotion and dedication with which mothers take care of the home and their husbands, the strengths, courage, and will powers father’s display in daily life is the highest virtue and it is largely as a result of the influence of the family.
With family we can get through anything especially when the family have a close knit and supports each other at all times. #They will always remain with us.

Whitney Edna Ibe is the Executive Consultant, Life & Mental Health Coach, and Writer/ Editor at Whitney Edna Ibe Consult (Blog), Flyhiee.com, The Social Talks, Penprofile.com, and Mental Wellness Society International. She is in charge of consultations, services, and implementation.

8 Thoughts on “No Place Like Home…”

Feel Free To Share Your Lovely Thoughts In The Comment Box!