Tag: home

Discovering the Dragons of Home

by Mershon Niesner

I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes, and possibly in the gristle of the ear lobe. Maya Angelou, author, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist.

Where is home for you? Some say, “home is where the heart is” others consider home wherever their loved ones are. I’m interpreting Angelou’s quote to mean family of origin or childhood home. As we search for our unique selves, we uncover all that originally made us who we are under our skin, at the corners of our eyes, and the gristle of our ear lobs. 

As I write a memoir-like book, I’m daily considering the shadows, dreams, fears, and dragons I carry with me. I’m transported back to small-town-Nebraska and what I consider to be an idyllic childhood. Concurrently, I’m writing a historical fiction book about my great grandparents, early settlers in Nebraska. I’m embracing my past and finding satisfaction even in the shadows.

Affirmation: I embrace my past as I carry it into my present.

Coaching questions: Where is home for you? What do you especially value that you learned from your family or origin? How does it make a difference to you today?

IMG_1488Sledding with friends behind our car in Nebraska – circa 1957 – I’m on left

The Dragons of Home

by Mershon Niesner

I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes, and possibly in the gristle of the ear lobe. Maya Angelou

I’m writing on this theme just so I can share this beautiful Maya Angelou quote. I hope you enjoy and find meaning in it. What an amazing writer! Don’t you just love “the gristle of the ear lobe”? In addition to the beautiful prose, I believe what she says is true.

After being away from “home” for over 50 years, I’m still a Nebraska Girl at heart. I yearn to have a view of the horizon from every direction, the fields of green as far as the eye can see, nearly everyone in town dressed in red on game day, farmer’s leaving their trucks running while they dash into the hardware store, dry river beds just ripe for picnics. Fortunately for this only child, motherless daughter, home was happy and didn’t leave me with “dragons under the skin”. It was a place of security, love, compassion and growth. I know I was fortunate because as I interview women, this was frequently not the case. Take time today to consider what home means/meant to you…shadows, dreams, fears and dragons included.

Affirmation: I honor my roots.

Coaching questions: What does “home” mean to you? How does your view of home affect who you are today?