My horoscope in the Washington Post today said this:

“Virgo - you may feel drawn to studying obscure topics. You can’t currently imagine how such intellectual pursuits will broaden your social horizons. There are those out there who will love to learn your views and share their own.”

My obscure topic, my intellectual pursuit is the inquiry: Where is home?

And further: What is home?

I certainly cannot imagine how this inquiry will broaden my social horizons and why anyone out there would love to learn my views. I do know there are people asking the same question, and perhaps wanting to share their views on these topics. So, although skeptical of the horoscope in a literal sense, I acknowledge its chimera of a prophecy and am launching an investigation into the meaning of “home.”

Though I have many swirling abstract thoughts and feelings about this topic (such as how does it relate to my upcoming wedding, the fluctuating state of the world, meditation, traveling, Oprah...), being a Virgo, it is helpful to start with something concrete. I made a list of my addresses starting with earliest post-birth sojourn to where I just moved two months ago.

Nerudova 158, Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia

Marxova 5, Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia

Camp Košutnjak, Beograd, Yugoslavia

399 Shell Ct., Columbus OH, USA

45 Dogwood Ln., Laguna Hills, CA, USA...

I will not list them all here in such detail, but one of the things I discovered from making this list is that less than a month before my 33rd birthday, I am living at the 17th address of my life. Not unusual for some pockets of American society (say military families, employees of certain branches of government, migrant workers), but in my opinion, moving every two years seems like a lot.

Perhaps the accumulation of a long list of addresses such as this makes the examination of the meaning of "home" fascinating and somewhat torturous. Perhaps it is the lot of growing up in the immigrant experience. Perhaps it is my karma. Whatever the reason, it is the existential question I have wrestled with the most in my soon to be 33 year old life.

Where and what it home?

Is it the first place we lived? Where we were raised? Where we lived the longest?

Is it the place that made the deepest imprint on our experience and character while we were growing up?

Is it where we have the fondest memories?

Is it where we live now? Or where are ancestors lived?

Is it the first place we lived alone?

Is it where we raise our children?

Is it the first house we owned? The place we invested the most emotion and capital into?

Is it where the heart is?