There's No Place Like Home

There's No Place Like Home: Unlock the Power of Your Environment 

Ever feel home's magnetic pull, that undeniable sense of comfort and renewed energy? Discover the surprising psychology of coming home! Join Jason & Jana Banana as we reveal how your environment shapes well-being. Even our dog Tater shows it – our personal habitats profoundly impact us.

We unpack the Law of Habituation: how familiar spaces reduce mental drain from countless "micro-decisions" during travel. Learn why returning home offers powerful stress relief and boosts productivity.

A vital life lesson: stepping outside your comfort zone ignites deep appreciation for your meticulously built sanctuary. Balance new experiences with familiar comforts for ultimate personal development and overall well-being.

Ready to optimize your space? Tune in for actionable self-help, mindset shifts, and positive thinking strategies. Pay attention to your energy, optimize your surroundings, and keep Living Lucky®!

Key Nuggets: Home energy is real. Familiarity reduces stress. Travel drains mental energy. Appreciate your comfort zone. Optimize your habitat.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

• The "Coming Home" Energy Shift: Why returning feels so good for humans and pets.
• Law of Habituation Explained: How familiarity reduces mental load and fosters comfort.
• Travel's Hidden Drain: The subtle ways unfamiliar environments tax your mind.
• Body-Environment Connection: Surprising physical responses to changing surroundings.
• Renewed Appreciation: Why leaving your comfort zone makes coming home sweeter.
• Balance of New & Familiar: The importance of both for holistic well-being.
• Optimizing Your Habitat: Creating a home that empowers your best self.

Key Nuggets: Home energy is real. Familiarity reduces stress. Travel drains mental energy. Body adapts to environment. Appreciate your comfort zone. Balance adventure with home.

Psychology of returning home after travel. Why do we crave comfort zones? Understanding the law of habituation. How travel affects mental energy? Appreciating your home after a trip. Balancing new experiences with home comfort

Transcript

The Comfort of Coming Home

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer 0:14

Good morning.

Jana Shelfer 0:15

I'm Jana, I'm Jason and we are Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer 0:18

You are too. We've been on a road trip for the last 10 days.

Jason Shelfer 0:25

Yes.

Jana Shelfer 0:26

And I'm just going to tell you there's something about coming home.

Jason Shelfer 0:32

Oh, the comforts of home. Is it comfort, I believe? Like, if I'm going to just dissect that feeling when we pull into the driveway, I believe it is kind of getting back to that comfort zone, that familiarity.

Jana Shelfer 0:46

Even just going to the bathroom on my own toilet. What is that? I mean, there's toilets everywhere, but for some reason oh my gosh, I've got my toilet, I've got my. I like my little wet wipes. I know you're not supposed to flush them.

Jason Shelfer 1:02

Well, I think it's so. There's a lot of things that are in our own personal environments that we don't have to use these micro decisions about because we're so familiar.

Jana Shelfer 1:14

You know that's a good point. I did not even think about that. There is a mental exhaustion of having to make all the decisions.

Jason Shelfer 1:25

Well, it's the law of habituation. So this is our habitat. This is where we are most comfortable in our home, because we've been here for 10 years.

Jana Shelfer 1:33

And things are set up for me.

Jason Shelfer 1:35

We've adjusted things and we've created our lifestyle in this house to be very fluid and conducive to the way we live.

Jana Shelfer 1:46

So we don't have to decide on things. Okay, let me just explain this though. We are in the car for seven and a half hours yesterday, and literally when we get 40 minutes from home, I start getting this oh, I can't wait to get home.

Jason Shelfer 2:02

Yeah, the energy picks up.

Jana Shelfer 2:03

I really can't wait to get home. Yeah, the energy picks up. I can't wait to get home. I noticed our dog in the back seat, who literally was like a blob of she was exhausted right like she literally was out I mean, she couldn't even go from the back seat to the front seat because her legs were so wobbly. She was kind of like bambi legs, yeah and. And all of a sudden, when we start getting closer to home, she starts recognizing the sense, the smell. Does she. Is that what it is?

Jason Shelfer 2:30

Or maybe she's just picking up on our, our energy. But I mean you could tell, because she, she got up, she got energy, she got the smiles, her, her little butt started wagging.

Jana Shelfer 2:40

And then the minute we open the gate to our neighborhood, she pops up like I'm ready to go play.

Jason Shelfer 2:48

I got to go check my pee mail.

Jana Shelfer 2:50

And then we pull into our driveway and literally I mean I have to go to the bathroom. So badly right.

Jason Shelfer 2:56

Yep.

Jana Shelfer 2:57

And I'm like Jason you worry about unpacking the car, I'm just going to worry about me.

Jason Shelfer 3:06

And Tater starts going around and walking herself From bush.

Jana Shelfer 3:08

I'm ready to play, I'm home, this is my, this is my place I guess what I'm trying to say is there's, there is an energy that hit all of us, and it hit all of us a little differently and I so.

Energy Shift Approaching Home

Jason Shelfer 3:19

To me it is. There's an there's an energy and excitement about going somewhere, and there's also this energy and excitement around rest and around being back in your comfort zone, where you know things are easier and you can be more productive in the things that you've just brought back with you, like all the things that we learned, because we spent four of those 10 days in a camp learning.

Jason Shelfer 3:44

Intensive learning environment Like immersion. Yeah, we did, Like it was skiing all day long. It was working on technique form, different thought processes, different perspectives and bringing all that home. And now we get to work on it in a non-friction environment.

Jana Shelfer 4:04

You know what I just had this this is totally a squirrel moment that I'm having right now, but we go to these immersion camps, like you're saying, to learn a skill. Why don't we combine that skill with, like Spanish, so that we're learning something physical and something?

Jason Shelfer 4:24

So we should go learn skiing in Portugal, in another country or Spain.

Jana Shelfer 4:29

So that we're learning another language while we're learning the actual?

Jason Shelfer 4:33

skill that sounds fantastic. Would that be frustrating?

Jana Shelfer 4:35

That would be exciting to me.

Jason Shelfer 4:37

Yes, and it kind of forces your hand.

Jana Shelfer 4:42

Oh. Maybe there's too much learning in that Then I probably really would be ready to come home. Okay, so here's the other thing. Even my and now I don't want to get too gross because I know people are listening to this, we're real.

Jason Shelfer 4:56

We just talk about the realness of stuff, so let it fly.

Jana Shelfer 4:59

So we stopped at Jason's parents' house on the way back to kind of add to our trip a little bit and to just connect with family. And I ate probably an entire thing of goat cheese.

Jason Shelfer 5:16

Which is always that's a staple in your diet. No, oh wait. No, you don't ever eat goat cheese. I never eat goat cheese ever. But you liked it, I don't know you don't ever eat goat cheese.

Jana Shelfer 5:24

I never eat goat cheese, ever I don't know if I've ever had goat cheese, and anyway, your mom happened to put out some goat cheese and I was like, oh my gosh, this is so good. And then next thing you know, I was the one that was hoarding it all. And then the next day she was like you know, I think I have some more of that goat cheese. Would you like it? I'm like yes.

Jason Shelfer 5:42

Let's put that out it's like ice cream.

Jana Shelfer 5:44

Let's just put it out for Jana.

Learning in Immersion Environments

Jason Shelfer 5:45

It's nice and creamy. It tastes good. Yeah, let's put it on a plate over here on my lap.

Jana Shelfer 5:50

And so what I'm getting at is my constitution has been a little bit.

Jason Shelfer 5:56

Your microbiome has been a little jacked up.

Jana Shelfer 5:59

Yes up.

Jason Shelfer 5:59

Yes, like I've been up and things have been off right yes, so we, we came back to our comfort zone yes and your body is still recovering from some of the things that we had outside of our zone of zone of normalcy yeah and it's a that's, but also you get to now let your body come back to norm in the comfort of your own home.

Jana Shelfer 6:30

Yeah.

Jason Shelfer 6:30

Because having that going on away, I know I'm so grateful Would be a compounding, almost like nightmarish effect.

Jana Shelfer 6:39

No, it was literally Because I had that goat cheese two days in a row. I'm so grateful that the goat cheese two days in a row. I'm so grateful that the goat cheese didn't kick in the first night I didn't realize I was goat cheese intolerant.

Jason Shelfer 6:51

It was just so good anyway.

Jana Shelfer 6:54

So I guess there are. When people say the comforts of your own home, there is something about you know taking your bra off.

Jason Shelfer 7:02

That I mean there's there's something about I love taking my bra, taking your bra stop let's don't get weird, but you come home, right and you're like, kick your shoes off. You don't have to worry about I'm being in anybody's way okay, yeah, you do have to worry about that.

Jana Shelfer 7:16

That's a rule in our house.

Jason Shelfer 7:18

Worry about I'm being in your way but pick up your damn shoes dang it. Why can't I get away with some stuff?

Jana Shelfer 7:27

but there is something about being home. There's something about being home. Even I mean, I hate to say this, but even the sun felt a little different here. Is that weird?

Jason Shelfer 7:39

no it's, and just enjoy those feelings. I think enjoy those feelings and also it gives us a chance to recognize some of those things and to appreciate it, I guess. Because sometimes what happens is we're here every day and it becomes the norm, the quote unquote norm. And then we go somewhere else and we realize, oh, I really have it great, or I can add some of this to my environment, or I can appreciate this a little bit more.

The Goat Cheese Incident

Jana Shelfer 8:08

No, I mean, I just was so grateful One of our neighbors brought in our trash can. I was so grateful for that, this woman that helps me clean every now and then. She came, and she actually came into our house yesterday while we were driving home, so that we would come home to a nice clean house.

Jason Shelfer 8:28

It wasn't that nice Right. When you can come home and everything is like, taken care of and ready for you.

Jana Shelfer 8:34

Yeah, and then the first thing I do is head straight to the bathroom. Blow it up Well we don't need to go that far, but that's what I did. I goat cheesed that thing. Oh, that's going to be my new verb.

Jason Shelfer 8:47

I'm going to go goat cheese that place.

Jana Shelfer 8:50

Oh yeah.

Jason Shelfer 8:51

And that's something very different, especially from the first four days when we were it was portal letting for four days, I know right. But it was a little slice of heaven. Oh, at the place, not the portalette Right. Please don't say that, no, the portalette, not a slice of heaven, but the environment that we were in. So we went from an amazing environment back to our comfort zone, which is also an amazing environment.

Jana Shelfer 9:17

But here's what I'm getting at is that there's little things. I noticed that I had some sort of allergy the whole time I was gone. Now that it was so minor that it probably doesn't didn't affect me on a day to day, but because I was aware of it I was constantly like like sniffling. Does that make sense?

Jason Shelfer 9:40

Yeah, Well, for me it's something as simple as just the different layouts of grocery stores. Yes, because we're very conscious about what we eat the vegetables, like organic, the meat, all those things, and when I go into a grocery store I know where everything is in our grocery store.

Jana Shelfer 9:56

Yeah.

Jason Shelfer 9:56

When I go into a different grocery store it's there, but it takes an extra 20, 30 minutes to find it all. It's there, but it takes an extra 20, 30 minutes to find it all. So like there's all these little pieces of what's what's, what is the what is home? Quote unquote home feel like, and then what does being?

Jana Shelfer 10:14

away, feel like it's not saying there's no place like home, and I felt it 40 minutes out, like as we started getting closer. I'm like, oh, oh, I recognize this toll booth.

Jason Shelfer 10:24

That's right Right.

Jana Shelfer 10:27

And then I felt like, as we started getting closer at home I don't know it just felt like even the traffic was a little more recognizable.

Jana Shelfer 10:35

And I know that's silly.

Jason Shelfer 10:36

That's crazy, that's silly.

Jana Shelfer 10:39

But now that you mentioned that, yes, I'm like, oh yeah, these people drive like I'm used to.

Jason Shelfer 10:45

And you know where to expect the little tiny delays.

Jana Shelfer 10:48

Yes.

Jason Shelfer 10:49

Like they're not huge, but they're like. You know. Okay, there's going to be a bottleneck here. There's going to be a little bit of bottleneck here. It's going to speed up in a minute, so be patient, be calm, it's okay.

Jana Shelfer 11:07

And what's so crazy is not only did I notice that you and I kind of started, to perk up and sit up, but I noticed it with our dog too.

Jason Shelfer 11:10

Well, that's how, this is how I feel when we come back from Kansas, like when we're driving back from Kansas or Oklahoma. I get more. I get my energy picks up the closer we get to home as we cross the state lines.

Jason Shelfer 11:22

There should be a country song so driving away, I do have the excitement of going somewhere, but I can. I can make that drive back straight, and that's a 20-hour drive and it's not healthy. It's not the best way to do things. It's not all, it may not be the safest way for some people, but my energy literally picks up the closer we get to home. Yeah, which is it's? It's an interesting little feeling and something that sometimes maybe you should try clicking your heels.

Jason Shelfer 11:49

Oh, you've had it within you all along there's no place like home.

Jana Shelfer 11:56

Oh yeah. So I guess my point to this whole podcast is what is my point I?

Jason Shelfer 12:02

think it's pay attention to your energy, like pay attention to where, where you get the boost, and also, do you need to leave your environment for a little bit?

Appreciating Home's Little Comforts

Jana Shelfer 12:10

so you can come back and appreciate it more. That is exactly what I'm saying. Thank you for extracting that from my word salad and that can just be in micro moments.

Jason Shelfer 12:22

It doesn't have to be for the day, but think about when you leave work. Let it go. Let it go so that when you come back tomorrow you can appreciate some specific things.

Jana Shelfer 12:32

I mean just the little things like the towels I was so grateful to have our towels, our towels, and then to be able to just go over and start a load of laundry. That was like one of those little blessings that I was just really, really grateful for, because we had this moment in the hotel where we had to go buy some laundry, go get some quarters, go buy some detergent. Detergent.

Jason Shelfer 13:01

We had to go find how many dollars worth of quarters which is a hard task to do $7.50 worth of quarters, which is a hard task to do.

Jana Shelfer 13:07

Seven dollars and 50 cents worth of quarters and then by the time we rounded all that up, we got up there and someone had just put in their laundry. It was like in college, when you you finally get all your laundry together and then you go down.

Jason Shelfer 13:18

You're like this month I'm doing laundry and you get down there and all the laundry things are full and so then we had to wait 40 minutes. Wait another month.

Jana Shelfer 13:27

And then, by the time we put ours in, I started getting the itchies from the laundry detergent that we used.

Jason Shelfer 13:34

Yeah, they didn't have our detergent available.

Jana Shelfer 13:39

We're such high maintenance Right, it made me feel like oh my gosh, am I really that set in my ways?

Jason Shelfer 13:46

No.

Jana Shelfer 13:47

Maybe that's another thing. Like you know, as we get older, we get set in our ways.

Takeaways on Finding Your Path

Jason Shelfer 13:51

I think we find what works, what works the best, and we find the basically the best path for us. And if it doesn't feel like the best path, maybe it's time you get off the path completely and then maybe you come back and revisit that path. If it's time you get off the path completely and then maybe you come back and revisit that path if it's something that you've drawn back to.

Jana Shelfer 14:09

Thank you for your wisdom this morning. Jason, Thank you for joining us. There's no place like home.

Jason Shelfer 14:15

Yes, keep Living Lucky®. We'll see you next time.

Jana Shelfer 14:17

Bye-bye. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at www. LivingLucky. com.