Where's Your Happy Place?

Do you have a "happy place" that you retreat to where your surroundings bring about deep sighs and upturned corners in a smile?

Our oldest daughter and her family have a lake cabin amidst the trees and water in the middle of WI where they love to go year round.  Their "happy place".

I believe that our friends have a happy place they are living in as full time RV'ers.  They call Arizona home in the winter and travel to new places, experiencing new adventures the rest of the year.  Whether they are relaxing at a beach or giving of their time serving as volunteers where needed, they can return home each evening to their happy place.  They take it with them wherever they go!

In our younger married years we moved so often, our happy place was defined by those we were with....our family.  And I can't help but think that in this season of my life Joel is my happy place!

Our middle child lives in the country with her family, surrounded by the land they farm and decades of family history surrounding them.  I believe they have created a happy place space for themselves there.  I love to sit on their front porch and enjoy the quiet in the early morning hours.  As I have shared before, peace permeates the air there and relaxes me.

Pondering the many different kinds of happy places, I cannot help but question where ours would be now.  Would we want an RV to travel around in, or a lake home that would call us for weekends and vacations?  Would we love a front porch in the country where cars are scarce and fields are not?  Just where would our happy place be?

When Joel was young the outdoors was his happy place.  He enjoyed the woods and lakes of MN where he grew up.  When I was around 10 I lived with my mom in a small apt at the front of a house.  My bed was the living room sofa, but there was a larger closet/storage room upstairs with a window where the sun would come in.  I used to love to be in there, playing with my dolls or reading.  A small cozy warm place where I felt safe and happy. I still enjoy small rooms that have a cozy feel, and Joel still enjoys being outside in nature.

Neither of us are particularly eager for a lake home in the woods.........nor anxious to be full time RV'ers.  And it does not seem practical to have a country home as we look ahead to our senior years. Still, a "happy place" sounds so inviting. I told Joel maybe we need a home where we love it so much that we don't want to leave it for a cabin or RV.  Is that even possible?  I expect so.

So, again, I ask the question, "Do you have a happy place you retreat to where your surroundings bring about deep sighs and upturned corners into a smile?"  And I ask yet another....."Do you live in that place and call it home, or do you find it in someone you love?"  Happy places come in all shapes and sizes, and so many different places. Where is your happy place?