Call Yourself Home

Human behavior is a mirror of internal reality, not a definition of your worth. While many people offer kindness, others navigate their own emotional discomfort by projecting malice, creating drama, and attempting to harm the spirits of those around them. The true challenge of life is learning to separate your identity from their projection.

Tonight, I sat in the family room and watched a group of crows swirling in circles over the deck. One flew toward the rooftop with a red apple clamped tightly in its beak.

“They’re picking apples,” my husband remarked.

I stood up and opened the door to get a closer look. Beneath the branches of the trees, a deer was quietly searching the grass for fallen apples.

“They knocked some down for the deer,” my husband added, smiling. I smiled too, glad to be home.

Throughout any given day, we encounter all kinds of people. Some are kind, friendly, funny, encouraging, loving, and generous. Others can be unfriendly. They might mock us, doubt us, try to hurt us. Some may simply be indifferent—ignoring us or treating us with indifference. While we can never truly know what heavy burdens another person is carrying, their behavior does not have to dictate who we choose to be. We can treat everyone with kindness and respect, even those who do not return the favor. We can remain true to ourselves. We can protect our spirit.

When I was a young girl and came home from school, my mother would ask, “How was your day? How are you? I hope you are unchanged.”

I used to laugh. The answer could never be a simple “good” or “bad.” It had to be “unchanged.”

As you go about your day, you have the power to observe the energy of others without absorbing it. Notice who they are, but do not allow them to rewrite who you are. Too many people absorb the anger, bitterness, and pain that others project until that negativity becomes a part of their own identity.

My parents’ childhood reminders have always stayed with me: “Call yourself home, Carolyn. Don’t let the world change your heart. Call yourself home.”

We go out into the world to learn, work, and live, but we inevitably encounter people who project their internal emotional discomfort outward, wanting us to feel it too. We must learn to recognize these words and actions for what they truly are: someone else’s projection. Stay true to who you are, and actively step away from words and actions intended to harm your spirit.

At the end of the day, if the energy of others threatens to change your heart or steal your joy, release it. Call yourself home.

❤️