Psychological homelessness

Home is not a home. There are many buildings but few houses in these buildings. Home is a kind of relationship. That’s what makes a home. 

It’s not bricks, not luxurious interiors or anything else. A home is made into a relationship where people feel that they are connected to each other, that they will be welcome there, that they may be there as they are – whether they are sad, happy, angry or scared – whatever. That their needs will be recognized and appreciated. And that people will be let into these homes, whatever they may be.

All this is now less and less, and people are experiencing an increasingly fragmented life. Why? Because now people are required to match some schemes, to match a picture. The key now is how productive, rich, smart you are. Comparison and competition.

The main interest in relationships today – what might be its result? What can you get from it? All of this is the exact opposite of what a home really is. Home is where you just are, where the comparison and competition important in itself, not because of the potential outcome.

The result is no matter. Just I’m happy because I’m with you, I don’t need anything from you, I don’t want anything from you. And vice versa. We cherish relationships by themselves, not because we can get something out of them.

That’s a big difference. It seems to me that lately, we have learned to underestimate relationships.

© Fortune, 2020