I saw this picture while scrolling through the latest Postsecret post yesterday. And it really hit home for me, because a few years ago, I could have written it. It says: “I wish I had more of a normal childhood. But I moved so much that I really don’t think that I belong…anywhere…anymore…I think I lost myself in one of those moves.”
So I sent this note in to Postsecret through their Facebook page.
“To the person who posted this secret about moving a lot. My family moved on average every other year from when I was born until high school. It’s hard to feel like you have no hometown, and you never know how to answer when someone asks “where are you from?” because it requires too much of an explanation.
But it gets easier. You find that “home” becomes more the people you’re with, and less where you sleep at night. Home is a state of mind rather than an actual state.
I hope you discover all the different meanings of home for yourself, and how many you’ve gotten to experience because of moving so often. It’s hard because it’s different, but that also makes it special.”
It got me thinking. Here’s something I thought was pretty unique about myself, something that has profoundly shaped who I am and the set of experiences I call my life. And another person, another stranger, has experienced the exact same thing.
This is one of the reasons I love technology. It connects us to people who share our core with us. Those things deep down that affect us more than we thought they would at the time. And we never would have known they were out there otherwise.
I have no idea if the person who created this postcard will ever get to see my response. I hope they do. If only so they can say “me too.”
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