🏠This is where my home is
This has definitely been an interesting year.
After two years of pandemic, when even emergency trips were a challenge, it seems that travel has come for me with a vengeance in 2022.
Apart from the mandatory trip back to Spain for Christmas, I hadn't really planned to travel much this year.
But somehow, I've ended up travelling to 7 countries and being away for 17 weeks of the year so far, which is a heck of a long time.
And by the end of the summer, I was just ready to be home.
The problem is that I don't really have a fixed base, somewhere where I feel my roots are. So on the plane, as I felt the overwhelming sense of relief that I was finally going home, I started to ponder what that actually meant to me.
Because I've lived in many countries and had to start from zero time and time again.
But can I really say I've ever really felt homesick?
I've felt a longing for the familiar at times when I've struggled to settle somewhere new. See familiar faces, eat familiar foods, and walk down familiar streets.
But does familiarity make a place home?
I've never really had a childhood home, an epicentre to my life that I always gravitate back to.
Most of the people I know who lack those childhood roots tend to lay them as they are older. They buy cosy homes and fill them with comfortable furniture, warm vibes and the smell of baking.
But I've never really felt the need to do that. I've never liked buying things for my house or flicking through interior decorating magazines for inspiration.
Clearly, things don't make somewhere home for me. But neither do places.
And, as I learnt during the pandemic, I'm very comfortable (maybe a little too much!) being by myself and can happily go months without seeing other humans. So people don't make a home for me either.
I realized, journaling on a plane over the Indian ocean that I am my own home.
And when I feel that I'm away, it's because I'm too entangled in other people's lives, wants and needs and completely ignoring my own.
So all I have to do to come home is to go within myself and listen to what my heart needs.
Which is easier said than done... but I'm getting there!
Sending you all the love. And all the boundaries! 💜
Paula
P.S. I know I don't talk about it a lot because... well, imposter syndrome, but what has me the most excited right now is studying for my Intuitive Coaching certification. ✨
I'll be eternally grateful to my friend Dayana who pushes me off the deep end (in the best way!) when I just want to dip my toe and inspired me to sign up. 🙏
I'll tell you more about it next week, but for now, I wanted you to be the first to know:
I'm giving away 5 free coaching sessions over the next two weeks to the first people to sign up, so ping me for the details if you're in!
If you're looking for someone to tell you what to do, then I'm not the droid you're looking for. Honestly, no one is more of an expert on you than you.
What I do as a coach is help you uncover the deep truths within you. And if you're struggling right now, I'll help you feel all your feelings (one of my coaches said this was my superpower, and I think I will print it on t-shirts, I love it!)
Just reply to this email and I’ll tell you more!