Loneliness is an aching, breaking
parting of the heart
and the ways
as the days drift into the dark of
American night after night and I
sigh and miss the deep blue, black African sky.
I have been homesick as long as I can remember. I have lived in South Africa and missed the America of my husband and his beautiful, all encompassing, soul-welcoming family. I have lived in America and missed the smells and sounds and rhythms of Africa so much that my gut ached in a way no food could fill. And I have lived in Ukraine and felt for the first time travel connected to Peter in our shared sense of being stranded between countries.
I find that distance, much more than absence, is what makes the heart grow fonder. Human beings were not designed to live so far from the ones they love and Skype only scratches the surface of keeping in touch. We were made to live inside, not alongside, each other’s stories.
More about my amazing time at the Relevant Conference as well as about the ten tickets (in)courage is giving away to the Deeper Still Conference over here. Come on, click over with me. Meet you there.
Hi, I’m delurking for a quick amen. Distance is a killer – and an imbalance can happen if we have “online” friends to the neglect of face to face, personal, human contact with the people with whom we are planted right next to. I heart your site. I’m sorry for lurking and running away so much. But tadaaaaa- delurked today And where’s the “twitter this” button on gypsymama? I tweeted about your post – but had to do it the old fashioned way of cutting and pasting the link – button button who’s got the button. :)
I feel this so much lately. The emptiness in the pit of your stomach that can’t be filled with food, and feeling like no where can really be home because everywhere is missing a piece of somewhere else. I think it’s mostly that everywhere is missing something because each place I go I am missing someone.
“We were made to live inside, not alongside, each other’s stories.”
I especially love that part.
I love that. We were made to live “inside” not alongside” others stories. I’ll remember that one. Oh – and I agree. :)
I read this over at InCourage, and I loved it. Love the way you painted this picture of the deep goodness of human connection. The way you reminded us all that blogs and twitter and emails are a tool for relationship, but that words spoken in real-life are pretty irreplaceable.
Loved how you wrote this, too.
Love from here,
Laura
It was wonderful to finally meet you in person at Relevant!!! I so wish we had gotten more time to talk…but we will have to ensure that our paths cross again! :)
Delurking here ;-)
Beautiful post. Truly beautiful.
Oh and hi! :-D
I, along with everyone else I’m seeing LOL, love the “inside not alongside” as well – you put into words what I feel! Which is why I still live about 10 steps away from my mother HA.
“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
Sharing your feeling of constant homesickness, although, I love the way the quote reminds us, it is the price we pay for the richness…our homesickness isn’t for nothing, but rather, comes from and flows out of a rich place of love.