Going Home

The road I take going home from work everyday in Berkeley/Oakland Hills.

Over the years, the shapes and sizes of houses where I have lived have changed. From my huge childhood house in suburban Tehran, to a tiny college-student studio in Berkeley, to the house in which I now live with my children, and all the small and huge houses in between, the shapes, addresses, cities, and continents of my residences have changed. Things and people in those houses have also somewhat changed based on circumstances governing my life at different times. At no time in my life, however, have I felt the peace and happiness I feel these days when I go home at the end of the day. I have come to realize that the house doesn't matter. It is the "home" that matters, that which gives us peace and happiness, the place where we feel relaxed and joyful to be, to eat, to think, to laugh, to cry, and to live and love. I'm glad I am finally out of houses, and that I live in a home, where I believe I have everything a person could ever need in life, where people await or meet you lovingly and eagerly, where there is peace. I have that home now, and it has taken me many years to reach it, but I'm there. Each day I leave work at the end of the day these days, I tell myself I'm going home to my home.

My Corner

This is my corner at the dining table, where I sit and do my internet reading and writing. In other times in my life, I have had access to large areas of space for personal use. At the end of the day, I have come to realize that we don't need too much space to feel satisfied and happy in our lives. I lived in a 325 square meter space where I wasn't happy, and I lived in a 68 square meter space in Tehran with my cat, feeling peaceful and content. This is a corner in my house where most of my awake time is spent at home. It is my corner of love, understanding, joy, and reflection. I laugh in that chair like a maniac sometimes, and I sob openly in it somedays. This is the corner of the world for which I have waited all my life, I believe, where I feel safe, peaceful, free, and complete. Welcome to my corner.

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