Your home is your comfort zone. It’s a familiar place you can move around in with confidence. Where work gets done and healing happens. Home is a sanctuary, and that’s wonderful—but it can also make us vulnerable.
No one likes being challenged in their home unless it’s a challenge they’ve deliberately chosen. That’s why, when we visit other people, we take extra care to be friendly and considerate. But even at home you can be humbled, and that’s not always a bad thing.
I recently asked my landlord about the flat’s heating system. He explained how it works and shared some ideas on how I might conserve energy. One of those ideas caught me off guard: “You can vacuum the vents on the control knobs. Sometimes, dust gets in there, and it confuses the temperature sensors.”
“Wait, there are vents on those knobs?” I thought. But I checked and, sure enough, each of the square little plastic switches placed on the room walls actually had vent slits on the side. I’ve lived in my flat for over three years. I’ve looked at those switches thousands of times. I’ve touched them, adjusted them, and glanced at them from many angles. Just never the right one, it seems. For I had always missed those vents.
For a second, it was a little disconcerting. To realize I had missed such an obvious detail in my own home for so long. But soon, I felt delighted: Even in this place I knew like the back of my hand, there were still new things to discover!
This applies to any home you or I will ever live in. My parents’ house is a lot bigger than my flat, but I also used to live there for much longer. Yet, it also still surprises me now and again. I’m sure my parents stumble into the occasional realization, too. “Oh, this area of our basement is actually built out of this material.” There’s much new to be found in the old.
The world will humble you a million ways. When your home does it, don’t lash out extra hard. Cherish the lesson, and let humility inspire you to make new efforts tomorrow.
