Home as Your Happy Place

Home can be a haven, an idea or a solid reality, and no single definition serves to describe exactly what home means to each of us.

In uncertain times, we all tend to think of home as a refuge, and a place of safety.

In these uncertain times, there may be no better way to maintain equilibrium and balance than by concentrating on home, family, neighbors and friends. How we all do that can become a catalyst for change that will carry over to the better times that will inevitably follow.

What Can You Do?

It’s often the little things that mean the most. We face another season of COVID concerns, cancellations and restrictions, and that can be isolating. Record heat, wildfires, tropical storms and hurricane season threaten devastation in some locales, and world news is increasingly worrisome. But rather than giving in to despair, we can each take some positive steps to make things better.

• Start or join a phone tree. Just a quick phone call to make sure a neighbor or friend is okay can mean the world to someone who’s alone. Social distancing can be isolating.
• Talk with your children. They feel the same angst and stress as adults. Whether toddlers or teens, they need your honesty and calm reassurance.
• Turn off the televisions and digital devices for a part of each day, or one night each week. Make it “family time.” Play board games or listen to music. Make (rather than order) pizza, or bake cookies. Take a long walk with the dog. Plan a backyard picnic.
• Prepare an emergency plan in case a storm or disaster situation threatens your home or your neighborhood. Assign specific duties to every family member. Take stock of supplies and equipment you have for emergency use, and stock up on anything you need: candles, batteries, propane fuel, candles, wood, bottled water, crackers and peanut butter. Discuss how you would reunite in case the family became separated.

In uncertain times, the idea of “going home” or “coming home” can be the thought that you cling to for strength, the motivation to work a little harder, act a bit more boldly or dream a bigger dream. If you’ve been postponing a home improvement project or some needed repairs, this may be the perfect time for that as well!