Where’s home for you? If there was ever a definition of home, it no longer applies. For many in this country, where they live is not their home any more than a house is a home.
Finding your home
So how do you make a strange place home once you land there? This new place will only feel like home if you decide to make it home. You have to put in the effort. Here are some ways to do that:
- You make the place. To make a place home, you need to make a conscious decision to be engaged and to connect with your community.
- Find some you know. Having at least one friend or acquaintance in the new community makes a big difference.
- Make it click. To be positively attached to a place, you will need a good social network. This can be done through professional colleagues or through children’s schools.
- Create your patterns. When you hit a new city, put a lot of initial energy into establishing your way around town and having your living rhythms in place.
- Get settled, then get connected. Surround yourself with your familiar furnishings to create a nest, then work on the points you live between – school, work, stores, gym and that will begin to get people familiar with you.
- Loss is inevitable. Try to anticipate what you’ll miss about your old ‘hood, beyond the friends and neighbors. Think about the bookstore, coffee shop, small theater, fresh flower stand, sushi place, nail salon, etc. Be proactive about replacing them and appreciate what the new town offers that your old one didn’t.
- Re-create what you love. If that is a book club, start one of your own and invite new friends to join you. Do you love art or gardening, find a new group to join and see what they have to offer.
KEY TO COMFORT IS BECOMING PART OF THE NEW COMMUNITY!