Birth-Place

    It feels good to return to the place in which you were born once in a while, if it's in 10 miles away or across the ocean. You don't even have to call that place home because after all, home is where the heart is, right? There's just something magical about the place that you were born at. It might look just as normal and ordinary to you and everyone else, with the same malls, restaurants, and hustle of everyday life, yet there are some subtle things, unseen moments, that the others won't notice unless they have these moments already inside their heart. It might be the way people think, talk, or act, the way the place ticks, the smells that remind you of the things that you used to do there. I mean the vibration of that place is familiar to you, because you were born into it.

    With these feelings inevitably come memories, the bad ones that slowly creep into your skull when you hear somebody exclaim a certain word, or you see someone who wronged you once. And then there are the happy feelings, the giddy ones, like when you pass a certain building and think 'hee-hee, I remember what I did in that old house with so- and-so for the first time in my life'. These memories give you a sense of exhilaration that belong to you and you only, and they tie you strongly to your birth-place.

    When you're on vacation and you return to your birth-place, you could stop and really feel that the daily responsibilities of your daily life are gone for a while, and you look at your birth-place with a fresh eye. It now has a new appeal that it never had before, and you smile and forgive it for the injustices done to you in the past. Sure, it was tough when you had to do all the growing up. Your birth-place sent you to a hard school to toughen up, it dished you some hard moments. However, you can't help but be just a tiny bit thankful for that now, even if it's grudgingly and with both eyes closed.

    Welcome to life! In your memory, pick up the past positive strands of your birth-place that are worth unraveling and review them again. Glance at the negative experiences, but since they're old and rotten anyway, let them be. They will wither away by themselves, unseen and unheard, like old leaves in the fall. Don't give them more power by brooding over them too much.

    When you get ready to leave, you have hopefully made peace with your birth-place, and you can return to wherever it is you call home with a clear mind. Leave the negative feelings behind and take the good ones with you. Good luck on your journey.