What does home mean to you?

For a long time, I’ve wrestled with the question: What is home, really? At one point, I might have answered with the definition you’ll find in a dictionary: “a place where one lives permanently.” But this idea of permanence never quite sat right with me. It felt too fixed, too tied to physical spaces and structures. And life, as we all know, is rarely that straightforward.

Over the years, my understanding of home has shifted. It’s no longer about a specific address or even a place at all. Instead, I’ve come to see home as something much deeper and more personal. It’s the feeling of truly existing—living—in the truest sense of the word. It’s about being present, finding peace, and creating a space within myself where I feel safe, seen, and whole.

Safe. Seen. And whole. 

This realization didn’t come overnight. It grew slowly. Along the way, I’ve learned that home is wherever I am—wherever I’m choosing to live fully and authentically. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’ve truly found it. Not in a house, a city, a country, but in myself.

Finding home within me has been liberating. It’s given me the freedom to embrace change, to take risks, and to trust that no matter where I go or what happens, I carry that sense of belonging with me. In short, it means knowing that I am my own haven. 

And, as a writer, this journey has obviously influenced the stories I tell. I want my characters to go on their own paths of discovering what home means to them—whether it’s a place, a person, or a feeling they uncover within themselves. Their journeys, like mine, are about more than finding a physical location; they’re about uncovering who they are and where they truly belong.

So, what does home mean to you? I’d love to hear your own definition!