A house is a building that functions as a home for humans or other creatures, including simple dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes and complex structures composed of many systems.
A home is a dwelling-place used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for an individual, family, household or several families in a tribe.
According to the definitions there really isn't much of a difference. To me it is very different. A house is a place where your things are and where would typically sleep. So it is just a structure or building. A home is so much more for me though. A home has love and safety and this amazing level of comfort.
So what if a home doesn't necessarily have to be defined as a place. What if home is in someone's arms? They wrap their arms around you and you feel safe and loved like never before.
I have lived in many houses over the years, some apartments, some actual homes, some rooms I have shared, so a pretty good assortment of places. Very few of these places have ever felt like home to me. They felt like a shelter from the elements, but not what I envisioned a home to be at all.
More recently I have had a very clear vision of home. I have felt home. It wasn't what I expected at all. It isn't some magical house with beautifully coordinated wall paints or even a cozy little room. Home for me is in someone's arms. I think this says it beautifully, "You put your arms around me and I'm home." It is a line from a Christina Perri song 'Arms' and the whole song is rather amazing, but it made me think that maybe my search for a 'home' for all these years has been flawed. I need to quit searching for a place and filling it with things. I need to find that person, let him wrap his arms around me and be 'home'.
I feel so blessed to know what home feels like. To know that barely explainable amazing feeling of safety and love. I hope that one day everyone finds their feeling of home like I have.
