S is for...Shelter

Home is where the heart is.

Home is where the heart is.

Home is where the heart is.

Home is where the heart is.

Home is where the heart is.

When you read a sentence, or even hear one, there are practically infinite ways that you can interpret it. The stress and emphasis you can put on something changes the message massively. This is why humans are so incredibly appalling at communication. Like, on our day we certifiably shit at it. It’s so very easy to misinterpret what message someone is trying to put across. And why it’s as easy to express yourself in a way that is easily misinterpreted. This is part of the reason why fights, affairs, lying, cheating, stealing, hating, and all the other ‘negative’ stuff happens. I mean it’s even why some of the positive stuff happens too; because someone got the wrong end of the S is for...Stick.

If you aren’t aware that anything could be interpreted in all these different ways then you are pretty much destined for your fate. It is genuinely set out in stone for you.

You think ‘X’, and in order to move on from ‘X’ you must do ‘Y’ in order to achieve ‘Z’.

It’s pretty obvious really.

So, that’s why I think you need to learn to see things from different perspectives, from someone else’s perspective. You need to be able to change, you need to adapt, you need to switch, you need to evolve. Otherwise you are basically just on the course that’s set out for you. Eventually you’ll reach your limit, with your narrow mindset, and you pretty much won’t be able to progress any further.

So instead of X + Y = Z. Why not, @ * ? # !

I know that will totally go over some people‘s heads. But this is how you think outside of the box.

After all they are only symbols. Don’t be afraid to challenge the norm. Remember as a species we’ve been doing this for hundreds and thousands of years anyway. Maybe you haven’t in your lifetime, but in general the human race has. That’s why we have all the cool shit we have. Because someone dared to dream and tried something that hasn’t been done before. That’s how you are reading this article right now. Because somebody thought they could build a computer, they dared to dream, and they did it. And I dared to dream, wrote an article, and put it out there.

So, shelter, and what has shelter got to do with all this? Well, lots and lots of people have this ‘thing’ that they call home. It might be the city or town that they grew up in. Maybe their parents house, or just the place where they live now. That to them is ‘home’. That is their shelter. They feel safe and secure there. They feel comfortable. It’s home. My point is, it’s often perceived as a material thing. It’s a physical thing, and a very specific physical thing. It’s geographical. But it’s external to them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to just rock up at your house and go...

“Well I perceive this to be my home, so now it is. What are we having for dinner?”

But what I like to do, to feel safe, and secure, and comfortable is fully buy into the notion of

Home is where the heart is.

And that place is...my body. Literally, that is where my heart is. So that is where home is. So I go everywhere with it, and I want to feel safe and secure and comfortable wherever I go. I’ve not always felt like this I might add. And, chances are the majority of people go through a phase of feeling insecure in their own body. But I think it’s just how life works.

Yeah you could interpret the sentence to be, home is where the heart is in terms of passion. Heart being a synonym for passion. But that’s the point. There’s so many ways you can interpret that sentence.

So, interpret it however you want. Or you know, just remember you can interpret it in a whole variety of ways.

Something someone supposedly said

“Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart.” - Matthew Desmond

Songs

Only Love - Ben Howard

Is this love? - Bob Marley

Shelter - Porter Robinson & Madeon