Feels Like Home

Back in the 1998, Dawson's Creek was the show to tune into. I was too young to watch it but every now and then, nine year old me would sneak into the lounge room and gawk at the goregousness of Joshua Jackson. I never actually watched a full episode until I binge-watched Dawson's Creek on Stan. Full disclosure. Even at the tender of nine and from the snippets I was able to watch, I was Team Pacey all the way! I don't know how it happened, but The Dawsons Creek CD ended up in our CD stash. My pre-pubescent heart fluttered at the lyrics to Kiss Me by Six Pence None Richer, wept at the sound of Cry Opheila, swooned at the lyrics to Lose Your Way and I belted out the lyrics to Life's A Bitch because nine-year old me didn't know bitch is a swear word. But there is always one song that I'd play on repeat and that was Feels Like Home. Feels Like Home is a love-song, it is about the safety and intimacy of a solid relationship. But for me, what else comes to mind when I think of this song is the familiarity of a place where I feel at home and that is at my best friend Jess's place, downstairs from where Alan and I used to live at Fawlty Towers. A orange brick monstrosity straight out of the 70's that has stood tall and proud despite the ebb and flow of time and wear. I call that place The Cave of Adullam, in the Bible there is the story about David and how he found the cave of Adullam when he was on the run from King Saul who wanted him dead. Over time other downtrodden men joined him the cave and they weren't just survivors of their circumstances, they became warriors. For me, Fawlty Towers was my cave of Adullum. 2013 was the worst year of my life, it felt as though I had lost the essence of who I was as a person. But for all the storms 2013 brought to me, it gave me a rainbow. The downstairs neighbour who would over the next nine years become my best friend. Even though Alan and I moved on from Fawlty Towers and have changed addresses twice since June 2017 with a new postcode that is a twenty minute drive from sights I grew up with, it always feels good to go back somewhere that feels warm and familiar. Somewhere like home. As a kid, the lyrics which stayed in my heart from the Dawson's Creek soundtrack was the chorus of Feels Like Home and that is how I feel when I go over to Jess's and watch as she fusses over the food she serves with love, or how she listens and gives you the advice you need to hear and offers you a snuggly blanket just because or a jumper when you feel cold. For the time you are there, their roof is yours too. Their couch is comfy and you've got your lounge wear on. Stories are shared. Tears are shed. Hopes and dreams are encouraged and revived. Their favourite songs become yours. Their acheivements are your joy. Your accomplishments are their pride. On our drive to and from Jess's, Sarah got me hooked onto Simon and Garfunkel, their voices used to fill my house growing up. The Sounds of Silence. America. Mrs Robinson. Bridge Over Troubled Water. Homeward Bound. These are the songs which have always been in my heart, but sometimes as life goes on we become distracted by life and other lyrics until someone reminds us of where we have been and how we can move forward, honouring what has passed but still being true to the person we have become. Where is the place you feel like you are home? The place which brings salt and light to your soul and where you take every opportunity to return? Is it somewhere you feel warm and loved? Is it full of people who give you compassion, understanding and celebrate every step of your constant evolvement? No matter how much time has passed or how far you go, whether it is down the street, across town, over the NSW border or over the ocean. Friendships are absolutely esstential to our happiness and well-being, being with a friend should feel like home, a place where you feel comfortable wearing your raggy-daggies, ugg boots and eat like royalty. Where you can be honest, raw and use your potty mouth words. That's all from me today guys. Thanks for reading and sending you all love. I hope you have those people in your life that feel like home. These are the lyrics which came into my heart today, the chorus of "Feels Like Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk. Feels like home to me Feels like home to me Feels like a long way back where I come from Feels like home to me Feels like home to me Feels like a long way back where I belong Love, Sarah xx