I always enjoy reading your posts. As a nomad at heart who is currently not travelling and often longing to live abroad again, hearing your personal stories and reflections about your life and the Cayman Islands is wonderful. I don't know if I have a country or place I can call home, but I have been trying to create a home within myself. Maybe I am a hermit crab after all. I somehow had to think about Virginia Woolf's quote: “As a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.”
Thank you Christine- does the longing have a focus, a place you’re yearning to go to? The imagining and dreaming can sometimes be good too. I’ve had a place in India on my ‘must go’ list and wonder when it will actualise.
Virginia’s quote always puts me in mind of war- how much less conflict and unease there might be if we all experienced home as within us. Thank you for sharing that x
noticed you hadn't published! Also, about to move house ourselves and have been thinking, and excited about, the shake up in routine for us all! Sending love from our temporary home in a campervan in NZ
I did notice you'd been quieter here Jo. Nice to hear your update and that you're nestling into a lovely new home. I remember about a year into my time in NZ, moving from flat-sharing to a solo place. Looking back it was the first tentacle of a root going into the earth as I bought cutlery and a rug! The question of home is never an easy one to answer (I wrote a whole Substack post on it some time ago). I now own two passports and refer to both NZ and UK as 'home' at different times. My roots (and ethnicity) will always be in the UK. My heart-home can be either or both. And I've come to connect to a sense of home that resides in body and spirit and transcends location. Right now, home is also where my husband and kitties are, on a very simple level. Thanks for sharing that Japanese word, I love it 😀
I think this is also a topic I have written about at least one before too 😂. Coming home to a loving companion who knows how you feel and how to cheer you up is wonderful- I definitely miss having a cat. Having a husband and multiple kitties...- no wonder that's home.
I'm glad you also loved it- I shall pass on the thanks to my friend too!
And that is one of the griefs of renting here- so few places allow pets.
I walked up to the beach tonight to get a photo of the full moon, and got the fright of my life from a rustling in the hedge. I’m telling myself it was the black cat, who I’m determined to befriend. Tho, I suppose it might’ve been a chicken- I don’t know where they sleep at night!
Chickens roost up on branches of trees as soon as sun goes down. I hope you manage to make a little kitty friend, life is not quite complete without one 😊
I always love your writing and good to see you back! The concept of home is one I often think about - and I always come back to the same place - 10 miles from your old one! Would love to see a photo of your new home….
It's definitely one of those themes that the mind circles back to.
One of my Cayman friends is in my town today- its so strange to think of her driving past my house, being amongst people I know and have not seen for months. Did you go back to that garden in the end??
I always enjoy reading your posts. As a nomad at heart who is currently not travelling and often longing to live abroad again, hearing your personal stories and reflections about your life and the Cayman Islands is wonderful. I don't know if I have a country or place I can call home, but I have been trying to create a home within myself. Maybe I am a hermit crab after all. I somehow had to think about Virginia Woolf's quote: “As a woman, I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman my country is the whole world.”
Thank you Christine- does the longing have a focus, a place you’re yearning to go to? The imagining and dreaming can sometimes be good too. I’ve had a place in India on my ‘must go’ list and wonder when it will actualise.
Virginia’s quote always puts me in mind of war- how much less conflict and unease there might be if we all experienced home as within us. Thank you for sharing that x
noticed you hadn't published! Also, about to move house ourselves and have been thinking, and excited about, the shake up in routine for us all! Sending love from our temporary home in a campervan in NZ
Ooh that's exciting- how long until the move happen?- good luck!
I hope the campervan is warm - which part of NZ are you in? Autumn can get cold in the south I imagine.
I did notice you'd been quieter here Jo. Nice to hear your update and that you're nestling into a lovely new home. I remember about a year into my time in NZ, moving from flat-sharing to a solo place. Looking back it was the first tentacle of a root going into the earth as I bought cutlery and a rug! The question of home is never an easy one to answer (I wrote a whole Substack post on it some time ago). I now own two passports and refer to both NZ and UK as 'home' at different times. My roots (and ethnicity) will always be in the UK. My heart-home can be either or both. And I've come to connect to a sense of home that resides in body and spirit and transcends location. Right now, home is also where my husband and kitties are, on a very simple level. Thanks for sharing that Japanese word, I love it 😀
Thanks Vicki.
I think this is also a topic I have written about at least one before too 😂. Coming home to a loving companion who knows how you feel and how to cheer you up is wonderful- I definitely miss having a cat. Having a husband and multiple kitties...- no wonder that's home.
I'm glad you also loved it- I shall pass on the thanks to my friend too!
Actually the kitties anchor me more than the husband I think! Husband is movable, but the kitties are always HOME 🏡
Love with cats is always unconditional!
And that is one of the griefs of renting here- so few places allow pets.
I walked up to the beach tonight to get a photo of the full moon, and got the fright of my life from a rustling in the hedge. I’m telling myself it was the black cat, who I’m determined to befriend. Tho, I suppose it might’ve been a chicken- I don’t know where they sleep at night!
Chickens roost up on branches of trees as soon as sun goes down. I hope you manage to make a little kitty friend, life is not quite complete without one 😊
I always love your writing and good to see you back! The concept of home is one I often think about - and I always come back to the same place - 10 miles from your old one! Would love to see a photo of your new home….
Thanks Kate!!
It's definitely one of those themes that the mind circles back to.
One of my Cayman friends is in my town today- its so strange to think of her driving past my house, being amongst people I know and have not seen for months. Did you go back to that garden in the end??