Querencia

Georgia Heard wrote about the idea of querencia, which she defines as a place where one feels safe, or where one draws their strength of character, that feeling of home. While reflecting on my thoughts about home I came up with this piece. This is home.

Billy and I moved a lot when we were first married. His job had us all over the west coast in that first year. The apartments were furnished so we traveled pretty light. A few plastic bins of memories, clothes, our Basset Hound Thomas, and the two of us.

With those being our first experiences of home, you quickly learn that it's not the material objects that make your safe haven. Over the past weeks, I've found that my best writing happens while I sit at my desk, listening to the click-clack of Billy's keyboard. I hear the thud of feet above me and the soft whispers of two sweet little girls.

Yes, there are times when I am desperately seeking that golden silence, but there's something reassuring about the background noise. They make my querencia. Those sounds are safe, warm, understanding, and encouraging. They are my home.

Bibliography

Heard, Georgia. Writing toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way. Heinemann, 1995.