Monday, January 23, 2012

Wanderlust and Homesickness

Last night I was reading a book and  I came upon this quote. It describes exactly how I have been feeling.  It is from a book that was written in German. Titled: Self's Deception by Bernhard Schlink and translated by Peter Constantine. It is a mystery novel.  I was deeply affected by these words as if they came from my own heart:

"But what really preoccupied me that weekend was my wanderlust and homesickness.

Wanderlust is the longing for a new country that we don't yet know, and homesickness is a longing for an old country that we no longer know, even if we think we do.

  Why do I have this longing for the unknown? What do I want--to leave or to return?"

Those words totally capture how I have been feeling here. I change my mind everyday, stay or leave?  Great writing. Wish I could write like that.

7 comments:

  1. Wow Patricia !!!!!!!!!!!
    That is me as well........:-)
    We moved away from home....Ontario 20 years ago and now live in the US....I still am homesick
    BUT is home still home ?
    As we are reaching retirement I wish I knew :-)
    Looking forward to see what your decision is "and" hopefully we will meet again in Ajijic next month...........we will arrive Feb 22

    Take Care.......CC

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  2. Oh Patricia - how this speaks to me! I'm so glad I'm the first to comment (otherwise I'd not be able to, still). Thank you for addressing this.

    For me it is, I think, a feeling of being somewhat adrift, caught between worlds, not "belonging" in/to either. I am eager to go/ move/explore and yet feeling as if I have roots is important, too. Yet if I stay too long anywhere I get antsy.

    A gypsy soul? Perhaps. Yet how I'd love (I think?) to have roots, a home, a family (that no longer means children, though at one time it did). Now, at (almost) 62, I am redefining "family". Well, "home', too, I suppose. I continue to reinvent myself/my life, and one day will one "stick"?

    I have no idea.....

    Thank you yet again for a timely post!

    Barbara

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  3. Hi Patricia

    I LOVE that quote !!!!!!!!!
    I wrote on your blog yesterday ...don't know what happened to it....lol
    It sounds like ME.......we have lived in the US for 20 years and I still miss HOME ( Ontario )
    BUT is home really home anymore ?
    I am anxious to hear what you decide
    We will be in Ajijic Feb 22 and maybe our paths will cross again..only not on the bus after having route canal :-)

    take Care
    CC

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  4. HI CC, Thank you for writing. I am in the restaurant listening to Unchained Melody. WOW. That song brings tears to my eyes. It too is like that quote. Yes, please contact me in Feb. Patricia

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  5. HI Barbara, Thank you for writing. I am glad you too related to that quote. It says a lot. Maybe we will only feel like we are HOME when we die? Otherwise, living is always a shifting around from one temporary home to another. P

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  6. Well, what did Bernhard Schlink have to say about it, if he was so preoccupied by the duality of the possibility?

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  7. He had no answers. It was a mystery novel, not a philosophy book. His next sentence was that he had a roaring tooth ache and had to forget about it and go to the dentist. So he was no help. P

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