As someone who spent much of her itinerant childhood criss-crossing the country in the back of a family sedan, always searching for that elusive place called 'home,' I was enthralled by the prairie home that author Daisy Hickman describes in ALWAYS RETURNING: The Wisdom of Place.
"To my prairie heart," she writes, "the terrain I grew up with evokes feelings of pure delight. Untouched and free, the prairie symbolizes the great unknown–past, present and future wrapped in one, a convincing space knowing no boundaries or limits, no worries or demons: a place where my heart resides." Hickman could also be describing any number of beloved landscapes, seas, or skies–for that is the home we come to know when we explore our world with hearts and eyes wide open.
You'll find personal ruminations between the covers of this book, as well as inspirational passages from Hickman's favorite transcendentalists, philosophers, and prairie home companions. And perhaps you'll come away, as I did, understanding more deeply the meaning behind the beloved Zen teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh's words: "'I have arrived, I am home' is the shortest Dharma Talk I have ever given," he said. "It means 'I don't want to run anymore.' You need that insight in order to be truly established in the here and now, and to embrace life with all its wonders."
Calligraphy by Zen teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh, purchased at my Day of Mindfulness at Deer Park Monastery.