Finding Your Way Back Home

Periodically, like it or not, I’m the receptor of messages. Messages I need in my life. It’s a weird phenomenon which others may have experienced. The same message or a variation on the same message pops up over and over again in different contexts over a short period of time. It’s this bing, bing, bing among all the other bings in life. But this bing stands out. Because it’s a unique bing. It’s a bing which makes itself known until I pay attention. This latest message first appeared while reading…. then it popped up in a song a few days later…. Ok starting to notice…. But then a few days after that, I heard it in a commercial. Ok, got it. Paying attention. Exploring what it means.

The message? Find your way back home.

Really?

In the middle of a pandemic…I’ve found my way back home more than I would like… spending more time at home than at any other point in my adult life. So, obviously I can find my way back home.

Generally, these types of messages are not for literal analysis. It’s more like an archaeological dig—unearthing the subconscious message my conscious needs to figure out. Such an expedition requires patience, focus and thought to determine how this particular message applies at this particular time.

The discovery made? That finding a way back home is about taking the time to find a way back to yourself… not only to the self that is … but also to the self that was. It’s about traveling back in time –as difficult as that is—and accessing the essence of you. Accessing the innocent joy that was there before life’s experiences (some little; some big), started building one on top of the other.

But maybe this message at this time isn’t about going all the way back to the very beginning…. Maybe it’s more about accessing the self who existed before the pandemic. Who were we? Before the cleaning, masks, distancing, testing, hospitalizations, deaths, before the fears, before the adaptations to ever- changing rules/environments, the ups and downs, the protests, the political climate. Finding a way back home to that self. Which doesn’t mean dishonoring the experiences we’ve had along the way. Experiences which may have opened our eyes, ears and hearts where they were closed or partially closed before. Experiences of taking care of others and ourselves in a healthier way. Or maybe an overall experience of slow progression as we move through these times (two steps forward one back) or of slow regression (one step forward two back). Whatever the experience it needs to be honored as we try to access the essence of who we were before.

So, finding the essence of who we were before—that joy—not so easy and will take some work.

It’s hard to even remember….

What brought joy pre-pandemic? Can we still find our way back to that joy—to that essence? Patience… Focus…. Thought… Follow through.

And, so it was after the patience, focus and thought, I found myself following through on a long drive playing some old- time rock and roll. Following through singing well known songs at the top of my lungs “carrying” a tune which in all probability only I could recognize. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I was able to access joyous parts which haven’t been explored as of late.

And after the drive…and after the singing … the pandemic… still here… The social issues and political climate still here…. And we also need to make sure that the essence of who we are is still here too. We need to make sure we find a way to access and experience that essence from time to time and, if possible, expand upon it. We need to make sure it remains a part of who we are. We need to make sure we find our way back home over and over again.

Patricia Nemeth received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She earned her Juris Doctorate and Masters of Labor Law degree from Wayne State University School of Law. She is the founding partner of Nemeth Law, P.C. which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2017. Patricia decided to start a personal blog because she wanted to write about topics other than the law.