Homebody, by blogger of the month Elon Richman

So its like this.

People have noticed that I regularly draw a house on my ankle. It’s simple: a square frame, triangular roof, a doorway and a rectangular chimney with smoke from the top (its lived in).

I don’t draw on myself because I’m bored in class. Its a meaningful reaffirmation and a statement of my self respect and self love.

Wait, what?

While working at a coffee house in Tel Aviv I decided to come up with ideas for tattoos. Something basic, not too crazy, and preferably a picture that I could design and even tattoo onto myself with household materials (that last part was / still is very questionable).

So I drew. First it was Mr. Peanut, then a bear with a cigarette in its mouth (morning shifts are long) and finally a house.

Why did I draw this simple house?

At first the house reminded me of my home in Miami, a beautiful 1920’s, Mediterranean style abode where I spent my childhood and fondest memories. It made me homesick. 

But then I remembered that I came to Israel to see if I could actually feel at home in what I’ve always considered my second country.

Finally I asked myself: What is home?

Is it where you grew up? Where you’ve lived most of your life? Where people know you? Is it where your friends are? Your family? Is it the place where your dogs are? 

What does it feel like to be at home?

I concluded that the home is not necessarily a specific place. It is where one feels complete and whole, a place from where warmth and comfort generate. 

Where do those feelings come from?

When faced with these kinds of existential questions I tend to turn toward my learnings in meditation and Buddhist philosophy. From that perspective, it seems to me that warmth and completeness arise from within.

Warmth and completeness from within.

That means it doesn’t really matter in what specific location you put yourself. Home is a mindset and can be created in any Bedouin capital in which you may happen to be. All you need are the right tools to build it. Personally, I build with friends, love, routine, a good mind and a sweet patio. 

But everyone has different specifications.

Now, I’m not saying I’ve never felt “homesick”, but feelings are transient. Missing a place means its special, but it doesn’t mean that you must be there or that it is the only place you belong. If one can feel truly present, other homes will have less of a grasp (by present I mean feeling in touch with both the outer and inner environments. Its hard).

We’re all building houses in Israel. So as you continue to form the structure of your life here, think about the roof that’ll protect you from hard times, think about the walls that will keep in the warmth and think about the windows of perspective from which you would like to look. 

And make sure your door is open for guests.

So now, every time I sit down and put my feet up, I see the house and remember that my body is my home and the vessel by which I experience it. I redraw it every day and reaffirm this message to myself: 

Home is wherever I am. 

Home is wherever you are.  - blogger of the month, Elon Richman