Where I Live
October 7, 2012 
Where do I live?
It's a rather simple question..and one that I've been pondering lately. It shouldn't really take all that much thought to answer...but that it's something about which I've definitely been thinking.
I live here in the United States of America. I live in a suburban town just west of a city that hugs the east coast. There are mountains to the north and west..and oceans to the east. There are tree lined streets..and picket fences..and backyards that have been carefully tended. There are children playing and dogs barking. There are parks and schools and a town hall and center. I'm lucky. Where I live - there's a beautiful and very picturesque little pond.
I live in a house that can be easily located by its street name and identifying address. I have a phone number..a zip code..an email address. Anyone can find me - if they look.
I live alongside my furniture..my pots and pans...my precious belongings..the 'things' I've collected and amassed. I live with my papers...my pens and my pencils..my library of read and un-read books. I live with my family - who I love more than life. With my husband..my children..my sweet girl-dog.
But - where do I LIVE?
Where I live..where I really live - cannot be defined. Where I live is somewhere inside. It has no identifying name..or street address. It can't possibly be located or - even - described.
It can't get lost. It can be found. It is sometimes a firey red..or a melancholy blue. It can be a bright orange..or a deep and pensive purple.
This place where I live - it talks to me. It walks with me. It sits right there beside me. It owns nothing. It carries all. It remembers..and yet - it forgives and forgets.
I live in my wildest imagination....and darkest dreams. I live in my quiet..and my endless chatter and noise. I live in my internal tumult..and my eternal peace. I live where I breathe....where I feel...where I can listen and hear the voice that is speaking. Softly.
Where do I live?
I live in that place..in that sacred space...in the one and only - where I come alive. In that one - that is always waiting...inviting..welcoming. That one to which I can return. Time after time..and over and over..and ever again.
I live in my body..my breath..my heart.
I live in that place...in that comfortable safe space - that is home.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cross-posted at Vision and Verb - where a group of like minded women from around the world share their passion for photography and the written word.
Reader Comments (54)
This was beautiful Marcie... i live in a place very much like yours... we just finished clearing the table after our Thanksging dinner... it's much earlier than in the USA... because our harvest is in Oct... we were ten sharing our dinner... two sons... their wives... four beautiful grandchildren and two in laws... it was noisy and fun and full of life... Penny and i are relaxing now and recharging our bateries... this is where i live... it's called home....peter:)
How absolutely beautiful...your words touch my heart. And the photograph is gorgeous!
A fine atomspheric image with strong appeal. I enjoyed your introspectoion about where you live.
Your images are always so inspiring and create a wonderful and serene mood. Lovely work Marcie.
Lovely poetic atmosphere Marcie. I love this shot.
Beautiful thoughts on living.....where really is open to interpretation, isn't it? I've been thinking along these lines too, as I prepare to move and downsize. The things I've lived with have defined a life, but I'm looking forward to writing a new chapter in new surroundings. Your photo is elegantly beautiful!
Tout en finesse, j'aime ce traitement en harmonie totale avec le sujet.
I would call that your Holy of Holies, Marcie!
Remarkable words with which I suppose most of us would identify . . it is not just about knowing where the true values are but knowing what they truly are . .
Insightful and wise words to go with this stunning image.
love the fog
The words and the image left me breathless!
what a beautiful image and a fantastic description of where you live, beautifully written
Lovely, soft, misty photo. Beautiful subtle tones.
It sounds like a most wonderful place to be, Marcie.
This is so beautifully written, and as always you have the perfect image to go with your words.
Happy Monday to you!
xo.
Oh Marcie. Tears here. No words except thank you = and long may you find it a safe and comfortable place to live.
what beautiful beautiful words....that got me to pause - at the start of yet another frustrating farm day - and made me want to sit down and start looking at here, at who i am here and how good it ultimately is. thank you
Marcie I love your writing and your contemplations. Home is a wonderful word and full of significance here you share yours at a soul level.....As usual as I read your thoughts something ethereal holds my feet a few inches off the ground, until finally landing softly on the earth. Grounded and inspired......
According to Benjamin Franklin, in 1750 in his Poor Richard's Almanack: "There are three Things extremely hard, Steel, a Diamond, and to know one's self." He observed that it was extremely hard to know oneself, but you seem to have mastered it, Marcie.
Marcie,
You had me at the photo - and then reeled me in with the prose.
What a lovely and well-expressed sentiment.
xoxo
Terrific.
Beautiful post, photography and love where you live ~ so 'right on' ~ (A Creative Harbor)
Wonderful post.
Beautiful image. Beautiful words.
What a wonderfully evocative image accompanied by expressive and thought-provoking writing. It has made me too ask myself the question: Where do I live?
I have said this before: You NEED to offer a book of your bird photography.
Now this is some amazing writing, my dear Marcie, you touch my soul and shift my thinking ~ and you soothe my mind with another glorious image from your pond ~ what a wonderful home, inside & out.
Such a gorgeous, dreamy photo! You have captured the question this morning that I so often struggle with. Recently, gathered with dear friends in soulful conversation, I burst into tears as I proclaimed "All I've ever wanted is family and home!" Since then I've been thinking about what home is and how to make one that I carry with me always, no matter what is happening in the outside world. You sound like you have found that place I'm looking for.
I love where you live. That place is so different for all of us, yet so very much the same. Coming home, again and again to the heart inside of us that offers peace...a blessing, indeed.
What a beautiful place you've described here - and one we could all find, hopefully. It sounds like a very good place to be.
Your image, Marcie, is more than beautiful.
Marcie, this is so beautiful. Thank you for the lesson on Living. I will carry this in my heart today.
I love the misty mood and the soft colors
Marcie, this is so beautiful. I don't think I'll ever answer the question, "where do you live?" again in quite the same way. You're so right - we live in our heads and our hearts and alongside or within our spirits.
"I live in that place - in that comfortable, safe space - that is home." So lucky.
We are so fortunate, aren't we?
absolutely beautiful!
A wonderful harmony in this image! I like the atmosphere.
Beautiful words and image. It is so nice to know you feel comfortable with your home.
The most beautiful part of where YOU live Marcie, is that you share it with us time and time again through your daily practice and those magical photographs of yours. Today the magic was in your words and touched my heart once again as they usually do. Thank you xo
Nice use of the fog as a compositional element.
Wonderful mood to this image. Almost looks like a winter scene.
that's really nicely put.. a fine post! :D
We all have to have this 'home', although I would call it 'core'; the inviolable core of every human being, that place that needs to be safe for us to be able to survive.
It's the place that gives us strength, which helps us to overcome and makes us stop and think when times are good.
Sometimes I explain it by saying 'I live inside my head' but it's deeper than that.
Hmm...
Coming to that place too. :)
Exquisite image Marcie! Beautiful lines of poetry..."deep and pensive purple", "sacred space...heart...home...breath." You brought me along
for your journey. Blessings!
When I come here, each day, to view your images and read your words, I am often stumped to find something to say that will express my feelings - about how your thoughts touch me and inspire me and teach me. So consider me stumped with the beauty of this post.
This is sheer poetry. It touches my heart and mind with the meaning and the beautiful flow of words. The image draws me into the thoughts.
Incredible Marcie--words and image.
I read this here yesterday, and it's beautiful to read again. Home is where your heart is - adages have a ring to truth...
absolutely amazing, both your story and this image ! I am trying to find connection between these two!
Marcie - those last three sentences really resonated with me. In fact coming back to the states after visiting Belgium and spending time with two fabulous women in the Netherlands..I must say I feel my home is wherever I go, which I think means just what you said! I just could never say it so eloquently! Thank-you!
P.S. Incredible image as always!
This is a beautiful piece.