You Are Your Home- Orion Carloto

When someone says “home,” you think of a physical building where you spend most of your time there. You could look at every wall, every room, and you will remember a lot of memories that will stay with you forever. Home is a place where you find shelter and whenever you are having a bad day, home makes you feel so much better. You feel like that building brings out the real you. Home is the last thing that will judge you. Home is a place where you find love, happiness and when someone or something comes to hurt that home, you feel an emptiness in your stomachs. I love my home. It's filled with my family, my memories, my stuff but that physical building is not really my home. When I think of home, I think of myself, my body, my mind, that's my home.

At a very young age, I hated my body, I didn't like the fact that it didn't look like the other girls. Whenever I looked in a mirror, I pointed out everything that I didn't like about myself. The way my nose points down every time I smile and my ugly brown curly hair. I was given up on my body and it was a very bad feeling. I thought that I wouldn't fit in with society standards. Once in a while, I made a couple of cracks on the walls and they bled red paint. I thought that hurting my walls would make me feel better. As time past, I started to crave home in other places and in other people. I thought that if I move to a different part of the world I would find peace within. I look to find shelter in other people, but those people made me feel unwanted and alone. I hated everything about myself and I couldn't stand the person who I was. I tried so hard to fix every crack on the wall, but I gave up and one day I almost let an earthquake tumble down my home. Took me a couple of years to figure out that my body is my first home and would be my last one. I've learned that I need to love myself and not let anyone or anything destroy the home that I was lucky to be born in. I need to take care of my body, like I would take care of my physical home, to love it and appreciate every second of the day. To stop trying so hard to fit in with society. Instead, just go with the flow and let the real me shine. I can finally look at myself in the mirror and say to myself that I love myself and every flaw that came with my home.

I just want to remind you that you are your home. You don't need to find a safe place in someone or in something because what you need is right in front of your nose. Love yourself. Love every single day for the rest of your life, you only have one life. Love your home, decorate your skin with beautiful artwork, fill your lungs with your favorite flowers, and fill your heart with all the love in the world. Find things that make you happy, like reading a poetry book on a rainy day or just sitting on your porch while drinking coffee. Allow yourself to learn new things, get out of your comfort zone and live life to its fullest. Take care of your body, soul, and mind because you were born with just one of those. Let people in your life, but don't let them become a home because they could leave and make you feel homeless. If you ever feel alone, it's because you are in need of yourself and no one else. Don’t you dare let anyone hurt your home. If they do, let them go because they are not worth such a beautiful place. Learn to love your home before you go and love someone else's home. You are important in this life, you were born to be happy and feel safe in your own home. Enjoy every second of your life. Wake up every morning with a positive attitude about yourself and the world. Allow yourself to love everything about yourself because if you can’t love yourself then who is going to love you? One last thing, your body was the first home you were born in and it will be the last one, just remember that.