"A reflective exploration that inspires readers to examine the meaning of home and family."— San Francisco Chronicle

"Already Home contains beautiful, intelligent and often lyric prose. Gates reunites herself and her readers with the land, with land itself."— Shambhala Sun

"Gates is a modern American transcontinental settler, with a strangely settling and disturbingly unsettling tale to tell. This is a work of great courage both in the living and in the writing. Her generosity of heart shines through on every page."—Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are

"Spanning geological time and the vast reaches of the human heart, here is an honest look at how we might more fully live our lives. This book is a testament to the healing power of connection with ourselves and with the world around us."—Sharon Salzberg, author of Faith and Lovingkindness

"This beautifully written memoir succeeds in proving to each of us that all of our lives are shared limitlessly with our neighbors, the garden plants, and the toxic waste dumps that surround us, that we are linked with all of those beings who have lived and died before us—if only we can summon the love and guts to see it."—Kate Wheeler, author of When Mountains Walked

"The daily particularities of living in Berkeley, the exploration of its history and geology, and the venturing forth into the great mysteries and uncertainties of life, love, and time is done with equal honesty, ease, and wisdom."—Malcolm Margolin, author of The Ohlone Way

"As if Thoreau moved his cabin to your neighborhood street corner, Already Home is a beautiful and tender reminder to honor the life around you."—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path With Heart and After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

"For all readers regardless of background, this book can be a compelling reminder to look around more closely at the world we call our home." —Contra Costa Times

"Gates is a lyrical and ambitious writer."— Publishers Weekly

"This is the sort of book one is homesick for after finishing it. Honest, searching, and as engrossing as a mystery, it pulled me onward. It's a marvelous meditation on how the fear of change and morality has led us to destroy in the name of preserving."—Annie Gottlieb, author of Do You Believe in Magic? and The Cube: Keep the Secret

"The cofounder and coeditor of the Inquiring Mind provides a thoughtful, elegantly written exploration of the boundary between self and place."— Yoga Journal

"This book shows us the way to find a deeper connection to our family, our neighborhood, and ultimately, all that lives. It inspires us to stop, to look, to see our unique place in a world that is constantly changing, to discover the true meaning of home."—Howard Cutler, M.D., coauthor with the Dalai Lama of The Art of Happiness

This powerfully moving memoir explores the connection between local history, the environment, the body, and the spirit. Triggered by a cancer diagnosis, Barbara Gates takes on a quest to find meaning in her urban Berkeley, California, home. She explores themes of love and family, home and homelessness, neighborhood and evolving geology. Through the lens of Buddhist mindfulness practice, Gates inspires readers to take on the vast view of where we live—including the past and the future—to appreciate the heartache and grace of daily life—to find for ourselves that any moment can open up to reveal that we are already home.