how to be aware in an unaware world

Author: Josh Avery

Home
“For there we loved and where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes
I jotted this quote down on my phone in a common area at the college library I used to attend in Nashville, Trevecca University.
It was at least 7 years ago, and yet I remember it so well, standing in the open library foyer, right by the windows, pondering the words, considering how much they meant to me then and how much they will mean to me when I’m older.
After all my travels, I’ve found this urge from time to time to return home, or something that resembles home (a place, a person, a feeling). But each time, I remember that this “home” I seek is an illusion to me because I had no single place that I grew up.
My heart belongs not to a border, city, town, or neighborhood, but to a people, the people of this country. Yet even that is inaccurate, for the Earth reserves my heart in its entirety, and its people are so diverse.
My childhood was a rare and uncommon one. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the most visually beautiful place I still claim as “home”, then moved around at a rate only few have experienced.
North Carolina to Germany to Washington DC to Jordan to Oman to Tennessee to Missouri in 17 years (visiting many more places in between).
Then, on my own this time, I moved to Nashville for college, staying in one place longer than I ever had before, 7 years. It was near the middle of this stay that I deeply questioned what “home” meant to me.
I discovered a love to travel, sprouted in my youth, as well as a love for comfort and stability, rooted in my college years.
I knew I had to choose one or the other, but I let the decision linger for another few years. Somewhere near the end of my senior year in college, I made a tiny decision that changed the course of my life.
Sitting behind my laptop in my Marketing 101 Class, half listening to my professor telling me what I should do, I went online and did what I wanted to do. I ordered a credit card, bought a 40L backpack, and booked one-way flights to New York City, Boston, and Chicago in the middle of January.
I didn’t have the money to pay for the trip, but I had the time to pay off a credit card.
I didn’t have a clue of what I was doing, but I had a deep desire to just go.
This trip would spark the ambition to see the world that set me on a course to discover not just the world but the very nature of discomfort and happiness.
Today, home is much more than a physical place or even a specific community; it is a feeling that I can produce at any time and in any place.
1. It begins with meditation, recognizing where I am and the fact that I am alive and well right here and now (awareness).
2. It moves into an even deeper recognition that I am truly blessed, from the solid ground I sit upon to the air moving in and out of my lungs (gratitude).
3. It carries into the rest of my day, the rest of my life, with the deepest recognition that I have all I need to step out of the ego, “I” and “Me” and “Mine”, and into unabashed service, expressing love at every turn (compassion).
I encourage us to consider the place where we grew up or a place that holds special meaning in our lives.
Does this place conjure any strong feelings or thoughts? What are they? Can we learn to detach from them?
Thank you so much for reading this post on home and what it has meant to me over my short 30 years of life.
If you found any value whatsoever in this post or other posts, please share this post. And if you feel so inclined, you may support me over at Buy Me A Coffee. Much love!
Three More Things:
April 14, 2025
Gratitude
“For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” – Vincent Van Gogh
It’s true, there is much we can discern with certainty nowadays, but there is also so much we don’t know, like what gives life meaning and where heaven is in all the universe.
The sight of the stars makes Van Gogh dream, and these questions of meaning and heaven make me dream!
I believe that what makes us even want to dream in the first place is a beautiful yet simple practice called Gratitude.
Gratitude results in the posture: never regret a single day in your life.
There are good days, bad days, best days, and worst days. The good days give happiness. The bad days give experience. The worst days give lessons. The best days give memories.
The good days are most days. When we look at gratitude as medicine and take it every day, we find that it really does make us healthier, inside and out.
If you’re the product of your environment, then change your environment.
If you’re the sum total of your thoughts, then change your thoughts.
If you’re the influence of the 10 people you most surround yourself with, then change who you surround yourself with.
We tend to think we are having a bad day because of factors we can control but just don’t choose to. The bad days are those rare days that something really bad happens and are deserving of feeling like crap about it.
The bad days are rare only when we remember that most days are actually amazing and showered in blessings. The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are all blessings, and they are provided every day to 90% of us.
It is even okay to have a bad day every now and then, to feel that pain, loss, hurt, disappointment, or struggle, and to know the next day will get better.
The best days are those days when you’re on top of the world and nothing can go wrong. Something amazing could have happened, you fell in love, you won the lottery, or you had a baby.
These are the days we all look forward to, revel in, and remember forever. It is good to soak them up, enjoy them when they come, but also know that they too will pass, just like the bad days.
The worst days are those that bring us to our knees, reminding us that we are really such fragile beings. They are the days of great loss, tragedy, and shock. When we lose a job, lose a friend or family member, and lose ourselves.
The worst days, however, teach the best lessons. Despite the difficulty or tragedy, the ability to get through the worst days always makes us stronger.
Through all of these types of days, there is also the ever-present lesson of impermanence, that everything is in a constant state of change, and for every low, there is a high.
This doesn’t make the highs better and the lows worse; this means we can let go of any effect they have on us when we step back.
Mindfulness makes us aware of impermanence, naturally bringing us to a place of peace in all the change.
Gratitude makes us thankful for impermanence, reminding us that there is so much to be thankful for even amongst the change.
Here are a few questions that can help you find more gratitude in your life!
When in your life were you super grateful for something or someone?
What are 10 things you are grateful for today?
Why are you grateful for those things?
How can you find a little more gratitude in your day today?
February 11, 2025
Today
“Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.”
– Ovid
I love this quote because although there are plenty of reasons to wish we lived in other times, there is so much to be thankful for in today’s day and age:
- We have lower rates of large-scale wars, especially WW1 and 2.
- There are numerous technology and convenience advancements
- Medical advancements have increased life expectancy
- We have the ability to travel practically anywhere in the world
- There is universal education and access to open knowledge
- We have sustainable technologies like renewable energy
- Conservation efforts are in place to preserve ecosystems
- Human rights have made huge strides toward inclusivity
- Unparalleled access to entertainment and creativity through the internet
- Better than ever work-life balances and opportunities
One of the wildest realities today is that physical work has been reduced due to automation and thanks to machines. This means there is more time for intellectual and creative pursuits.
I am truly glad to have been born in 1994 and grown up through the rise of the internet, increased stability, and global prosperity.
The awareness of this moment includes the massive amount of convenience we have to be thankful for: cars, trains, planes, phones, TVs, and endless travel.
The world is a big, beautiful place and it is a gift to travel to such diverse lands.
There was a time, not that long ago at all, that it was extremely uncommon to leave your state, let alone your country; and now we can affordably fly just about anywhere in the world.
If you were to tell a farmer in the early 19th century this, they would look at you in disbelief and probably call you crazy.
You can travel continents in hours where as ancient journeys would have taken months.
Today, we can make and reach out to friends worldwide, share thoughts instantly, and access a network of support in hard times; how crazy is that!
Stopping to think about just medical advancements alone is insane:
- We have eradicated diseases like smallpox.
- We have treatments for HIV and some cancers
- We have drastically improved vaccines
- We have raised the global life expectancy by 40 years in the past 100 years
The world is at relative peace, minus some war-torn areas like Ukraine, and El Salvador, and some dictatorships like Russia and North Korea.
There are still enough resources for everyone, and the standard of living has increased globally.
To recognize the significance of today means living presently in the fact that we are so blessed with this age.
This does not, however, diminish some of the harsh realities of today, nor does it excuse what must be fought for: like social equality, fundamental human rights, or environmental protection.
We live in an incredible age, but we must take care of it, improve it, and cherish it.
I encourage you to write down three things you personally are thankful for in today’s age.
January 22, 2025