As a Welsh person, Hiraeth to me is the sister of Cynefin. A sense of belonging, being part of, made of a place. Felt in a landscape or moment in time. Where your heart and being live and is most at home.β€οΈπ΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώ
I sort of feel that whenever I come to the UK. Something in my heart and soul calls out and sighs "I'm home". Leaving is getting more and more difficult each time...
I've lived in the same town in Wales all my life. Lots of people leave to go elsewhere after school, but I genuinely think part of me would feel lost if I moved.
I've moved a lot & consider quite a few places here in Germany "home" in one way or another, I've even spent almost a year in New Zealand, on the other side of the globe. But I'm not from the UK, nor do I have family ties there...but still. That feeling has always been there and is getting stronger.
Sometimes 'home' is not where we expect it to be, but where our spirit wants it to be. Something deeper and older than what's on the surface, that we don't fully understand. I feel it as part of my Welshness. A connection to something old even if I don't know what that is. It's like a presence π§΅
you can feel but if you try to turn and look at it, it disappears. Like it's there right next to you and yet always out of reach. In the present, but in the past. I like it because it's always there, and comforting in a way because you never really feel alone.
Thatβs kinda how I feel. Even when Iβm at home I feel like I wanna go home. Thatβs why I loved the meaning of Hiraeth. It seemed to really fit the feeling.
Last thing I did before I jumped onto the Heathrow Express for the airport was visit Tavistock one last time (my hotel was right around the corner from it), I think you can even tell I was crying here
I like the word Cynefin personally β€οΈ to belong. To have that home in every sense. That's what Wales is to me. And I experience hiraeth whenever I have to leave it π«
I'm not in Wales at the moment. And I know how Michael felt when he wanted to go back. It's a longing for home
That is so lovely. The closest I have to that is for Southern California, ironically the place where Michael wasn't home.
I've only lived about a decade there, and nobody knows me now, but happy years, it's one of the places the air feels right. I don't have the hostile feeling I have here.
Additional irony is I've told myself for several years that I can move when my kids are older. Where to? No idea. I don't know if I can be as brave as Michael then (in 2 years). I think for me it would be selfish. Sigh.
Comments
Itβs a beautifully expressive wordπ
I feel that way when Iβm up at my favorite lake.
My next RPG character, however, yep!
I'm not in Wales at the moment. And I know how Michael felt when he wanted to go back. It's a longing for home
I've only lived about a decade there, and nobody knows me now, but happy years, it's one of the places the air feels right. I don't have the hostile feeling I have here.