In a world of chaos, we all have anchors that snap us back to calm.

The obvious example is our homes. But other places can bring a feeling of stability and peace.

Today as I drove into a parking lot of a shopping complex in my neighbourhood I felt this.

I’ve had a ton on my plate recently and my mind was spinning, yet as I turned into this place I felt a wave of relaxation. This place is a standard, it’s familiar.

I know this calming feeling well. At its peak, I feel it when I return from a long period abroad. The simplest familiarity of home will strike me with a welcomed hug.

Other times, it hits me when I am away and returning to a place I’ve travelled in the past. When I returned to Medellin, in Colombia, after several years away, I walked down a street near my old apartment and I felt a wave of comfort that washed away all anxieties of the moment.

The same wave has cleansed my mind in London, and San Pedro, a tiny village in Guatemala. For whatever reason, our mind attaches itself to particular places in good times. And when — if — we return to these places, we’re rewarded with a soothing balm that takes over our emotions.

Shopping complex, coffee shop, or nostalgiac street.

Familiarity brings us peace. A sense of home. A temporary relief from the distractions of life.