My brother texted me this picture of a sign he saw graffitied on a wall not too long ago:
I thought this was fabulous, not only due to my obsession with random signs, but with the ingenious equation depicted. When I asked him what it meant to him, he texted back, “Nothing’s better than home.” Touché. If The Wizard of Oz taught us nothing else than the message of “there’s no place like home”, and of course, that winged monkeys are freaking scary and evil witches can be killed by the simple acts of dropping a house on or throwing a bucket of water at said evil witch.
This brings into question, however: What is a universal definition of “home”? Merriam-Webster defines home, among many other definitions as well, as, “one’s place of residence; the social unit formed by a family living together; a familiar or usual setting; congenial environment.” Urban Dictionary defines home, also among many other definitions as well, as “A word that means something different to each person who uses it. A person’s home can be the place where they live, the place they grew up, or the place where the people they care about live. In the case of some people, home is a variable concept, changing dependant on the placement of another person or object, or a person may even consider his or her own body the only ‘true’ home.”
Just like the subject of love, the subject of home is the source of inspiration for many songs. And songs, after all, remain timelessly one of the main forms of expression in a culture that is bombarded with new forms and mediums of expression every day.
First we have Daughtery’s “Home”. Nice song.
And how can we not pay tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd for their incorporation of this simple and yet inspirational, subject in “Sweet Home Alabama”. (Note: I admit I may be exercising slight biases in choosing this as a “home” pick, having grown up with Lynyrd Skynyrd as one of the records on constant replay in my house. I believe that many of my high school friends had the same Lynyrd Skynyrd issue in their houses, as well, since almost two decades after it was released, we chose “Freebird” as our prom song. But, I digress.)
Finally, it is impossible to forget Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home”. I was nine when this song came out, and it’s still one of my all time favorites.
Let’s go back to The Wizard of Oz scenario. Setting of conversation: At brunch. Description: Extremely random conversation with a friend of a friend, and somehow the subject of “being at home” comes up. Bear with me. We’ll circle back around to The Wizard of Oz in a second.
Friend of Friend (hereby referred to as “Mr. Wizard”…which I realize is not significantly shorter than “Friend of Friend”): It’s important to feel at home and be comfortable. That’s necessary.
Me (hereby referred to as “Me”): Yes, then, however, we bring into question the definition of “home”.
Mr. Wizard (in slight banter, but slight seriousness): You know, all anyone needs to do is click their heels together and wish to be home.
Me: I don’t wear ruby slippers.
Mr. Wizard: Any shoes will work.
Me: Dorothy had ruby slippers.
Mr. Wizard: Any shoes will work. You don’t need ruby slippers.
Me: Fabulous. I’m glad that I have the complete ability to wish myself to be home, even with my Chucks.
So this conversation won’t be a riveting component in any stories or screenplays anytime soon, but it does answer the question regarding Mr. Wizard’s perception of the definition of home. It’s anywhere you feel completely comfortable and want to be at that moment. And I completely agree with him. And although I won’t be clicking the heels of any ruby slippers together anytime soon, that conversation, in all its profound absurdity, will certainly stick in my mind for a while.
Since I refuse to end this entry on such a cheesy note, I’ll just say this: Stay away from flying monkeys, as they can be mean and unpredictable and steal your belongings, and enjoy the videos.
