The furry guy in that photo seems to know exactly who he is and where he belongs. He is a creature in his element.
This picture was taken in Wales. While traveling there a few years ago, the writer leading our workshops taught us the Welsh word hiraeth. Like mono no aware in our previous prompt, it does not have a direct English translation.
Hiraeth reflects a deep longing for place, perhaps a nostalgia for a home that was or never has been. It is a bittersweet desire to be in the land which makes you feel totally at home. It’s where you belong.
It’s a fascinating concept in Welsh, because it’s understood by the Welsh themselves even in Wales. They long for their own land even as they live in it. The past looms large in this feeling — a desire for the independent Wales that was before the English showed up; but it’s more than that. It’s the land itself, the ancient cliffs and hills, the lakes and shorelines, the mountains of Snowden reaching high and beyond the ever-present clouds.
Some of us love where we are and hope we never have to leave. Some of us wish we could move somewhere else, like Hawaii or Paris or Bora Bora. Some of us have never found a place where we truly feel we belong.
For your prompt today, create something that reflects your own experience of hiraeth. What place do you long for? Where have you visited that made you feel at home? In which house, land, state, country have you truly felt you belonged? What do you imagine it would feel like to belong somewhere?
If, like me, you feel like a nomad everywhere you go, write about that distance between you and where you are. Don’t be afraid to write about how painful it is to feel you somehow exist outside of your own home.
