"Homesickness may not be a diagnosable illness, but it is more than mere sentiment. The word itself, writes Carolyn Servid in Of Landscape and Longing, allows the truth that when we are away from the places that nurture heart and spirit we feel 'unhealthy, ill at ease.' Americans are a restless culture, moving constantly in search of new opportunities, which we define in terms of money, possessions, and power, not the richness of connection. If we valued roots--attachment to place and the community of species that live there over material success, we might well be happier, less driven to accumulate things and more able to be nourished by what we have and who we love. The malaise that captures us when we live in a place or culture that nurtures neither heart nor spirit may be telling us that we, like ET, need to honor the call to go home." Susan J. Tweit, Walking Nature Home: A Life's Journey
Isn't it wonderful, when a writer puts into words for you, that which you have felt, but were unable to express?
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6 comments:
Oh my....this is just in line with what I posted this morning. Perhaps there is a message for me?!
Ah, don't you just love synchronicity - when what you are thinking or feeling or trying to figure out, starts appearing on pages and everywhere you look? I'm sorry I got Susan Tweit's book from the library. I had to move all of my hi-liters away where I couldn't reach them, because there were so many quotes that resonated with me, I was constantly reaching for one!
YES! Do you know I was homesick for this home where I live now before I ever even lived here. I really was. Home is ... well, home IS me. I swear I can feel homesick when I am just out at the store.
I know exactly what you mean. I spent most of my life being homesick for a place and a way of life that I'd never actually experienced before, but which I recognized the moment I saw it.
Thanks for posting one of my favorite passages from my memoir on your blog! I'm honored that the book resonated with you, and sorry that you couldn't mark up the library copy. ;~) I think we tend to dismiss the affects of homesickness because they're so hard to measure, but they're no less real and debilitating. May we all find our way home to the places we love....
BTW, you might find my latest blog post on patience interesting at http://susanjtweit.typepad.com/walkingnaturehome
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