Planning for Life (... or "My Home Away From Home")

Home, for me, was always more than just location. I think at "home" as a feeling, a state of mind that stays with me during many days and nights in a row. Home is tranquility, home is a vivid picture in my head, home is both excitement and relaxation and, of course, home is where I lay my head (as Hetfield sang). Home is also people: the people I live with, the neighbors, friends and family even if they are not bound to the same location or region as I am. Home is everywhere for ma right now. I still lack a house though.

Which brings me to my next point: you always rate your friends. Whether you like to admit it or not, you always rate your friends. And it's always more than the two well-known groups: acquaintances and friends. A good question that helps you rate your friends is: "Can I spend the night (or more nights) at your place?" If you are able to ask this question without even thinking whether it's appropriate or not, than you can rate that friend quite high on your list. If you can ask this question, knowing that the answer will be "Yes", but don't quite want to "use a favor" for this one, you can't possibly rate that friend too high. If you can't even ask, it's never more than an acquaintance. These, under the circumstances that all of your friends have a place to stay and you could also fit in.

All these (and more) being considered, any rating (using any filters) of your friends is bound to be unfair. Why? Because you can't apply hard criteria (as weight or quantity) to soft relationships (as friendships). And that ism as it should be, because friendships (like love, for instance) should be felt and not thought through. After a lot of years (that have passed since I first said this) I still believe good friendships cannot deteriorate even if you see each other twice a year (for example). And I have the perfect case practice to sustain that point of view.

So here I am, home away from home and without a house, with not that much money on my hands, but happy and with the right people by my side. And at the end of the day this matters more! And in this context, I'm planning for life: a masters degree, a career (that will always begin with a job), a relationship and all the things I imagine I'll need in the future. Planning... The doing part has also started, but I have a lot to work on it still. Peacefully!

Food for thought: When you're not afraid of being alone because you can be perfectly happy like that also (at least for some time) it means that your life is on the right path. Hmm???