“There’s no place like home”; so said Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz as she tapped her red sequin shoes and voiced her heart’s desire.
For many of us the holiday season has come to an end whilst for others it is just beginning. There is a moment however for all of us when the fun and excitement of going away comes to an end and our eyes turn once more for home. Regardless of whether the holiday has been great, the best time of our lives or a dismal failure, there is still that sense in which there is no place like home. For me it is seeing Amy the cat wander down the drive with a look on her face that says, “So where have you been?” and that feeling of slipping back into your own bed once again. I love going away and seeing new things but I also love to come home.
On his return home, Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit coming to a rise in a hill and looking once more upon the Shire breaks into verse:
Roads go ever on and on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
Hopefully you have not experienced ‘horror in the halls of stone’ this summer but there is a sense that whatever you have done and wherever you have been, Gandalf’s words to Bilbo are as relevant to you, he says “You are not the hobbit that you were”. The excitement of travelling and going away from home is that it can change how we see ourselves and the world around us. I remember looking out of the aeroplane over the fields of England after three months travelling through the Levant from Istanbul to Cairo. An iconic image and I was glad to be home. But I was also struck by how many luxury cars there were when he headed out onto the M25 and the sheer sense of wealth in comparison to where I had been. Going away on holiday can help to bring a new perspective to the familiar and a fresh appreciation of what we do have. It can even challenge our understanding of ourselves in relation to others.
This summer we have not needed to go abroad to have our notions of everyday life in England severely challenged. Whilst images of young people rioting in lands far away such as Egypt have been a symbol of hope and freedom for many, the burning of homes and livelihoods in England through the same use of social networking sites has raised questions which cannot so easily be answered. All journeys have the potential to not only let us see afresh what we value and love about our homes and community but also to challenge our preconceived ideas, never more so than the journey we have all been on this summer. As we return to school and work let us not delete these events like a disappointing photo and leave the politicians and media to debate their theories and lay their blame but allow our questions to linger and our understanding of others to grow.
Emma
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