Home is where the heart is.

Where is home?

It's now 3 weeks since I said goodbye to that little turtle-shaped island, called Penang. The first night I spent in my room here in Hobart after the two and a half months back in Penang was one filled with an overwhelming sense of loneliness and despondency.

Imagine two months of not having to worry about cooking your own food, to deal with the hassle of paying your bills, or not having to clean up after yourself, and just spending all that time with your close family and friends. I will forever miss all the times I walk around shopping malls with my hands tightly clenched to my mum's arms. I will miss playing tennis with my dad, although sometimes I don't feel like it. I will miss spending time with my bestest bud just talking over a cuppa teh tarik and some roti. I will miss just hanging out with all my other friends. Surely, I miss being able to do all that. But, as good as the two months back in Penang was, time just thrusts you forward into the foray of life's uncertainties. As good as it was, it's just different now. Penang is now only something I associate with the word 'holiday', and not 'home', per se.

And, who can blame me for feeling this way? Seeing that I spend more than 75% of a year not being in Penang. I now see my apartment unit and my room here in Hobart as my physical home. I actually miss my room here than the one in Penang (what can I say? I'm a sucker for spacious rooms). So, the word 'home' has taken on a much more deeper meaning than the physical structure or space of a building.

Some people say that 'Home is where the heart is'.

But, where does my heart lie anyway? Can you actually separate your heart from what you do and from who you are? I, for one, cannot. I can't be like Tony Bennet, who so famously sang about leaving his heart in San Francisco.

And then, there are couples who are always dreading each moment spent away from each other. So, these people will almost always say that home and comfort is where their significant other is. So, the above mentioned phrase stands strong with these people.

But, what if you're like me? I always try to put my heart into what I do, here and now. I always try to extend my heart to people I meet in my everyday life. So, in order for me to do all that I do, I'll need my heart with me 24/7, no?

So, again, if home really is where the heart is, I guess my home is where I am, right here and right now.

Where is your home?