Every soul must have its ideal balance of shelter and adventure. Like introverts and extroverts; those who are revitalized by time alone and those who re-energize by connecting with others. Each of us practices this balance in our lives all the time. How do we know when we’ve gotten depleted by too much outward contact? When we become frazzled and unsure of our deepest needs… How do we recognize too much solitude? When comfortable becomes a muffling weight over what once kept us animated…

I can see this balance play out in so many ways. There are even hormones in the body that ensure health when at an ideal interplay of proportion. Novelty and Security, as Esther Perel articulates of intimate relationships. Nourishment and Generosity, as the community organizer experiences. Sometimes, when I luxuriate in playing with these balance points, I have a moment’s pause of compassion for those who (even temporarily) may not. I consider that woman on the street who clearly hasn’t showered and doesn’t know the peace of respite so easily.

On the other end, I consider the loving parent or grown child who stays through devotion, in caring for young or old, or ill or dying. Different stages of life necessitate this incubation. Some will know the far extreme of too little shelter, and over-exposure to environments beyond oneself. With this season’s “See Homes Everywhere” campaign theme of homelessness, here’s to all of those who are existing for now on the far end of the comfort-exposure continuum. May you know balance in little time. May you find respite in a momentary peace, in the kind and respectful gaze of a stranger.

May sense of home for you deepen within so that, as you experience greater stability around you, the well of peace will be forever more vast. And to those who are facing the confinement of restriction to a one spot, we look next season toward renovations and aging-in-place. To all knowing the ideal balance of home!