... the question is... does your home suit the whole of you... and I mean the whole of you?
I'm a homely sort with a spirit for exploration, contrary to say the least. To overcome this I've always made wherever I am my home, hunkered down, settled, explored the wider community and made the place my own...
My heart has travelled far and wide from the middle of nowhere in Australia to the Tokyo in rush hour, it has been my homemaker. All that changed when I stayed in Dartmouth for a while. It was as though the homemaking work was no longer required, my heart began to live anew... I had found 'home', a place I could live and be me... where my heart could at last kick off its shoes, put on its slippers, relax, retire from its hard yards, refresh, restore and live anew.
What is it about Dartmouth? I have no clue.
Quite bizarrely, Martin was sorting through some things the other day when, he came across a farewell card from Benetas in Melbourne. I began to look through the comments, casting my mind back and forth to 'the day', remembering, reliving when one note struck home, then another:
'Good luck with your tea shop in Devon...'
another one said,
'Hope you find all you're looking for...'
I couldn't believe that 'the place' had been part of me all those years before... at a time when I had not even visited Devon ! Was it a dream? Had my heart been hankering after a dream all these years? Had the dream driven a quest to find that place? What was it about 'Devon' that had found such a safe, secure and happy place in my heart... even before I had visited it?
It seems I only found 'it' when I was no longer looking... even though I was unaware I was looking for anything!
A little exercise for the weekend ahead:
Treat yourself kindly... relax, handle with care and bask awhile in your love... you are doing more than you can possibly imagine.
Now, here's something to have wander throughout... where's 'at home' for you?
The photo: At the helm of the Mermeris out of Southampton. A round-the-world 60 footer... taken by Martin Fletcher Sept 2018