Finding Home Podcast

To listen to the NPR interview with a Norwegian scientist, click here: The Physics Behind Santa To read more and join the conversation, go to FindingHome.Substack.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Making a decision helps keep us present in the here and now. This podcast is also available in written form at Finding Home on Substack.com and at JanPepplerHOME. You can email me directly at FindingHome@substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Neighbors can really make or break our experience of home. For the first time in my life, I really know my neighbors. And that makes all the difference. What about you? Please go to Finding Home on Substack.com to tell me your story! This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/07/08/neighbors/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Picking blueberries reminds me of a time when I was particularly happy. And nothing says home more than good memories. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/06/30/4th-of-july-blueberry-pie/ and at Finding Home on Substack.com Finding Home is a listener-supported podcast. Your support makes future podcasts possible. If you have the means to make a recurring gift of as little as 99 cents a month, you can do that by clicking on the link in the About section of this podcast. Thank you so much – your support means a lot to me! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

The world would be a better place if we were kinder, gentler, and more honest with ourselves, as well as with each other. This begins with admitting we're not okay. This episode is based on two posts at Finding Home on Substack.com: "I Am Not Okay" and "Be Gentle, Be Honest, Be Kind." --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Who are we when an ancestor is written out of the family history and erased from the photos? Who are we then? What is home when some doors are locked? To read the guest post mentioned in this episode, please visit FindingHome on Substack.com. The post is here: Grandfathers - Remembered and Erased. The photo accompanying this episode is of the only grandfather I knew, my step-grandfather, Lino. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

While in Sambucca di Sicilia in February 2022, I fell in love with a home that fit my budget perfectly! Only, there is a problem. And my friend who is an architect says it's too big to fix. This episode can also be read at Finding Home on Substack.com. Finding Home is a listener-supported podcast. You can make a gift of any amount by clicking on the link in the About section of this podcast. Thank you! I so appreciate your support. #1eurohomes #italy #sicily #italianproperty #home #findinghome #homerenovation #Sambuca #Sambucadisicilia --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Nothing else compares to losing your father because the role of Father is very unique. This episode is also available at Finding Home on Substack.com and as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/05/20/when-you-lose-your-father/ The photo accompanying this episode is of me and my father, taken in 1988, at Schloss Linderhof in Germany. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

You think Mother's Day is just a celebration of women who birthed babies or raised kids? Think again. The origins of this special day may surprise you. This episode is also available as a blog post at Finding Home on Substack and at JanPepplerHOME.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

For May Day, Arbor Day, and Every Day - "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree" This episode can also be found at Finding Home on Substack.com and is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/05/01/for-the-love-of-trees/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Wendell Berry's poetry is more salient this year than ever. In the midst of everything, participate in Spring. Practice resurrection. This episode is also available at Finding Home on Substack.com and at JanPepplerHOME.com The photo for this episode was taken by me, Jan Peppler. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Push past the winter blahs with these ideas for enjoying the little things and creating a home that makes you happy. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/04/08/spring-cleaning-a-happy-home/ and at Finding Home on Substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Just because you're got at a job doesn't mean you're meant to do that job forever. Living a purposeful life where your work is a calling requires taking chances and starting over. This episode can be found as a blog post at Finding Home on Substack.com or at JanPepplerHOME. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Whether you're a power cleaner, a compulsive cleaner, or a daily tidy-upper, cleaning house doesn't have to be complicated. But the best cleaning starts with two simple steps. This episode is also available as a blog post at Finding Home on Substack or at http://janpepplerhome.com/2022/01/29/cleaning-house/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

I discovered mold in my home last week, at first forcing me to let go of some things. But then I had a choice of what to keep and what to release. And choice is hard. This episode is also available as a blog post on Finding Home.substack.com and at JanPepplerHOME. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Whenever someone tells me "home is inside you," I cringe a little. That sentiment is far easier said than done. How, then, DO we begin to find home inside ourselves? This episode is also available at FindingHome on Substack.com or at janPepplerHome: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/12/30/home-is-inside-you/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Celebrating the Winter Solstice with a story about Amaterasu Omikami, the Japanese goddess of the sun. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/12/21/here-comes-the-sun/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Just some musings on the history and current state of this holiday. This episode can also be found as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME.com or at Finding Home on Substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

In recognition of EVERY vet. We, as a country, need to do more to support our vets. It doesn't matter if you agree with the military-industrial complex or not. These people have done what 93% of Americans haven't - and can't even imagine. They are true public servants. They deserve our respect and special attention to their post-service needs. This episode is also available at JanPepplerHOME.com and at Finding Home on Substack.com. The photo is of the Thanksgiving dinner program just 2 weeks before Pearl Harbo. It was given to me by my great uncle Harry Peppler who served as an Army Corporal in WWII. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

A few days before my mom died, she told me, “I'm dying. It's okay, I've seen that it is all okay.” My mother was going home. Going home to God. This is what she believed. As did my father, who died on Christmas morning. "O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger is my paradise." This is what he believed. My belief about heaven is different from theirs. But death, I do believe, brings us home. This episode is also available as a blog post at Finding Home on Substack.com or at JanPepplerHOME: WhenFaithBringsUsHome artwork is by my stepmother, Judy Beisser, done for my father's funeral bulletin. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

To be tethered is to have roots. To be tethered is to be home. The photo accompanying this episode is of Girl with Balloon by the artist Bansky. This artwork first appeared as graffiti in London and later was sold at auction for $1.4 million, after which it immediately began to shred through the frame and then stopped due to a malfunction. The partly shredded work sold last week at a new auction for $25.4 million. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHOME or at Finding Home on Substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Today we recognize the 574 tribes of Native Americans in the U.S. today and the millions who were here when we took their homes. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHOME and at Finding Home on Substack.com The photo for this episode was taken by me in August of 1998, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where the Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Spending time in nature is essential for our wellbeing yet even in a city park or our own backyard, we can be bombarded by noise. For me, the worst noise is a leafblower. Where do YOU find serenity in nature? This episode is also available as a blog post at Finding Home on substack.com and at JanPepplerHOME.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Chewing has become exhausting. I wish I had understood that decades ago when I made soup for my father. This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME and at Finding Home on Substack.com. BTW, the soup photo is not my own. No credit that I can find but I pulled it from Pillsbury.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Thomas Rhett has a new song where he says, “It sure is good to be country again.” I'm struggling to understand what that means. What does it mean to be a place? This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME and at Finding Home on substack.com. The boots in the photo are just some of mine that I currently wear, even while living in Tulsa, OK. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

We must be careful with our words and actions, even when we are frustrated, angry, fearful, or sad. Because children are watching. They are watching all of us. This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME and on FindingHome at Substack.com. The accompanying photo for this post is of the garage door I saw in Edmond, OK on August 28, 2021. Much gratitude to that homeowner and the artist. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Living – really living – is a perpetual act of suicide. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHOME.com and at Finding Home on substack.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

After a wedding, you are never really the same. Once we marry, a part of us is gone forever. Even as we embrace our new joined lives with joy and excitement, we need to honor what we leave behind. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHOME.com and at Finding Home on substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

When it's time for assisted living, it's not the home or their belongings that our elders miss. It's the freedom and their youth. They don't care so much if they are forgetting things, they have all the memories they need. Our parents are often more willing to move on than we know. This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME and at Finding Home on substack.com. The photo associated with this episode was the home of my great aunt for over 70 years. She left it in her early 90's and lived 100 and a half years. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Today is the birthday of Beatrix Potter, who reminds us that imagination can be the glue that binds us to home. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

My own story of belonging is both different from and similar to Brené' Brown's. Since I didn't fit in, I used my oddness to my advantage. That worked for me as a kid but hurt me as an adult. This episode is also available as a blog post on Finding Home on substack.com and on JanPepplerHOME.com Photo is of me and my father in 1983 on Halloween. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

We all have a need to belong. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, belonging is smack in the middle of the pyramid, right there with love. This is not to say the two are synonymous. You can certainly feel loved (by your family, a special someone, or a group) and simultaneously feel like you don't quite fit. Yet feeling loved and feeling like you belong are key components to home, to feeling at home. In this podcast, I discuss Brené Brown and her book Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging, in which she reveals one personal experience that she feels is the origin of her life-long sense of not belonging anywhere. Looking at her experience may help us understand our own and better understand our parents. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHOME.com and at Finding Home on substack.com. (Note that the photo of the heart inside a leaf was taken by me. Photo credit: Jan Peppler.) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Musing on Henry David Thoreau, Walden Pond, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Nature," and my time in a cabin in Sicily, outside of San Giovani Gemini. This podcast can also be found on my blog, FindingHome on substack.com. Please log on and share your thoughts! I'd love to hear from you. Thank you! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Nostalgia forms when we long for a place and time created in our young minds, which may or may not have a basis in reality. What we are really mourning is not the loss of a better time, but the loss of our childhood. This episode is also available as a blog post on Finding Home on substack.com and on JanPepplerHOME.com The photo associated with this podcast was taken by me. The plate belonged to my great aunt who died in 2008 at the age of 100 and a half years. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

There are a whole lot of moms who do not love their children as we expect mothers to and who do not provide the things a child needs to grow up feeling at home in the world. Some of these moms embody the Hera archetype, whose fulfillment comes from being married, not from being a mother. If Hera is the dominant archetype in a woman who becomes a mother, the children are bound to suffer. This episode is also available as a blog post at Finding Home on substack.com and at JanPepplerHome.com. Photograph credit: Philip Jones Griffiths --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

John O'Donohue wrote, “The body is your only home in the universe. It is your house of belonging here in the world.” A home must feel safe and be a place where we belong. But what if our body doesn't feel safe and we're told our body is not our own? This episode is also available on substack at Finding Home and at JanPepplerHOME.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Things have changed a lot in recent years, yet the archetypes of Mother and Father remain. And the function of these archetypes is still important. Mother is the comfortable womb of home. Father disturbs that comfort. Father calls us out into the world. This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME.com and at Finding Home on substack.com. The photo with this podcast is one I took of a friend's father in Resuttano, Sicily in May 2020. In his riding away, he embodies one image of the Father archetype: always leaving home on a road that shows us the way to something beyond what we know. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Too often we create home based on what we've known and what's familiar. But that's not always what's best. True comfort often requires us to move beyond the past. For the optimal experience in home and in life, we need to strive for the best. This podcast is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHOME and at Finding Home on substack.com. The photo accompanying this podcast was taken by me, Jan Peppler (as are all photos on my blog and associated with this podcast). This photo is from Freak Alley Outdoor Gallery in Boise, Idaho and was taken in May, 2021. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

“The place where you are standing is holy ground” (Exodus 3:5) Home is a holy place. Bidden or not bidden, God is present. Our homes are an axis between heaven and earth. How can we remember this, celebrate this, and welcome the sacred and Divine into our homes every day? This episode is also available as a blog post on JanPepplerHome.com and at FindingHome.substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Sometimes going home is wonderful. Other times, not so much. Each going home is filled with expectation and hope. If our visit is good, home burrows further into our hearts and psyches. And if it is not, home loosens its grip. This episode is also available as a blog post on Wordpress at JanPepplerHome.com and on substack at FindingHome. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Why does one place feel like home and another place, while beautiful or lovely, does not? This has everything to do with imprints: unique details that become embedded in our psyches and woven into our hearts when our experiences are significant and good. You can find the print version of this post under the same name at JanPepplerHome.com and at Finding Home on Substack.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Almost 10,000 black Americans lost their homes in the Greenwood massacre of 1921. If you don't know this history, you're not alone. But it's time that you do. This episode is also available as a blog post at JanPepplerHome.com and at Finding Home on Substack.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

We all wrestle with anxieties, fears, and insecurities but we don't talk about these things. Just like we don't talk about poop, unless we're joking. This episode is also a blog post: https://janpepplerhome.com/2021/05/16/what-no-one-talks-about/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Our hometown is always a part of us, even when we move away. It is almost part of our genetic history. Even if I never live in Chicago again, I'll always be, in some way, a Chicagoan. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/03/07/sweet-home-chicago/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Sometimes the reasons we hold onto things are not always obvious. I recently unwrapped an old gift from my mother - a Hummel figurine from 1971. When I looked it up online and discovered the name for this image, everything finally made sense. The name turns out to be something I really need to remember. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

This episode is in honor of a dear friend of over forty years who recently passed, transitioning from his body into the world beyond. As C.S. Lewis wrote in The Last Battle, this world is only a shadow or copy of the real world - the world which is beyond our ability to see now in our human form. Still, it is there, waiting for us, and when we arrive, we will be home at last. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

The old women we know as grandmothers, great aunts, and elderly neighbors were once young. They were teenage girls, sisters, girlfriends, new mothers and wives. They felt the same things we feel and experienced the same desires and challenges that we face today. And they have stories to tell, if we will listen. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/05/02/the-women-who-came-before-us/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

If we truly want to live in compassion, we must be decisive in our actions. We must remember to have compassion for ourselves as well as others. Bad behavior cannot be tolerated. Many thanks to Lama Tsultrim Allione and her book Wisdom Rising for a deeper understanding of compassion as strong and decisive action. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

Dining rooms apparently are a thing of the past and, more and more, people are no longer using dining tables. Ah, but dining tables are so much more than surfaces for eating! In this episode, I discuss why I believe dining tables are vessels for living, providing support and endless possibility. This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/04/11/in-memory-of-dining-room-tables/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janpepplerhome.com/2021/04/21/the-landscape-of-home/ I spent eleven weeks staring at the sea during Italy's Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. It was a lovely view yet eventually I longed for a landscape that was familiar to me. This is because the landscape of our childhood is imprinted on our psyches and stored in our bodies. The places where we played will always be home. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jan-peppler-phd/support