When we move to a new environment, whether for a new job, a relationship, or school, we lose our "competence." In our old lives, we knew where to buy the best coffee, how to navigate the bus system, and which grocery store had the shortest lines. In a new place, we are reduced to a state of childlike dependency. We have to relearn how to exist. Homesickness is often the frustration of losing one's autonomy and the exhaustion of constantly processing new information.
This is terrifying when you are homesick, but necessary. You must force a "local win." Join a terrible recreational sports team. Go to a trivia night where you don't know anyone. Say "yes" to the weird invitation. You don't need a best friend tomorrow; you just need one person to remember your name. That single thread of new connection is an anchor against the tide of longing. Homesick