"I write to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only real home I'll ever have.”

Why do you write?

Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash

At Heart Leap, I explore how to build a happy, creative, and simple life. At 9 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, I host ‘happy writing hours’ for paid subscribers. It’s for anyone who is trying to write a book, start a substack, or just have a little accountability for their writing practice. We chat for 5 minutes or so, and then we write quietly together for the rest of the hour. It’s strangely comforting and motivational to have a cohort of writers to support you and write alongside you. Subscribe and join us if you want some support. Zoom link at the end of this post. For one-on-one coaching sessions and support, please become a founding member.

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“I write because I am alone and move through the world alone. No one will know what has passed through me. I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life. I write out of hurt and how to make hurt okay; how to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only real home I'll ever have.”
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Photo by Gabe Fender on Unsplash

I was brought up in the north-east of the UK. I always thought of it as ‘home'.

After my adventures in the canal boat in Lockdown London and travelling round the four corners of the UK in a campervan, I decided to come ‘home’ and settle.

Even though I left the North East when I was 17, I still thought of this little corner of Northumberland as home.

Every time the train trundled across the iconic Tyne Bridge, my breathing would somehow slow.

I would hear the lilt of the Geordie accent, and my shoulders would drop an inch.

But now that I am back in my homeland, I’ve discovered that home is not a geographical destination.

As much as I love Alnwick, my beautiful home town in the wilds of north Northumberland, it’s not my home.

Photo by Darren Richardson on Unsplash

Home, I discovered, is not a place.

There is literally no place like home.

Because home is a feeling.

For me, home is a feeling of safety, refuge, belonging, and love. It’s a sense of community; it’s creativity and connecting with myself and others.

Writing helps me to connect with all of those feelings on a daily basis.

Writing takes me home.

What feels like home to you, and why?

The Heart Leap Writing Hour starts at 9 a.m. Zoom link below.