I bring this up because tonight I was reminded of a word that I am I love with: querencia. Such a beautiful concept. I learned about this word for the first time this summer while in Santa Fe talking about contested homelands. Querencia is probably my second favorite word next to panacea. It's a spanish word and there is no direct translation. Roughly it means home or place where you feel safe. It's not literally about a physical house but more of a feeling of being home. It is a state of mind. Feeling safe and loved makes you more powerful. Ideally it is inside you and you carry it with you wherever you go. A specific definition is, "querencia is a place where one feels secure, ‘a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn.’ In Spain, it is the place in the ring where the wounded bull goes to renew his strength and center himself, ready for a fresh charge. What a beautiful concept: ‘A place in which we know exactly who we are. The place from which we speak our deepest beliefs."
I honestly don't know what my querencia is specifically but I love the idea that there could be that place. I think the closest physical location I have to it is canyons in the southwest. Otherwise I think it's just a mentality in my head. Like how I can be in my house in Hopkinton and feel it when I am cuddling with my pups while watching tv or how I can feel it when I am visiting my parents in upstate NY. It's somewhere I can just relax and be me. There are not many places I ever feel relaxed. If you know me, you know this. I guess that's why the idea appeals to me so much.
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