Hiraeth

Deadly Diseases and Sickly Surgery illustration for Centre of the Cell by Hannah Foley. All right reserved (www.owlaingabout.co.uk).Do you know the word Hiraeth? It’s a Welsh word. It kind of means homesickness but really it describes a much deeper feeling than just missing home. It’s a word for being properly ill or heartbroken in your longing for, not just home, but the land you come from. As I was finishing my degree Big Dreamer was looking for a new job and he wondered aloud whether we should move to the south west of England, where my family are from and I grew up. “I think it could be good for us there,” he said. But I was decided, no, Scotland was good for us. I imagined growing old here. But he had started something and one day my mum said to me (wise Welsh lady that she is), “You’ve got Hiraeth.” And she was right.

From then on it just grew, so we made some plans. We would move house to somewhere we could save a little and test it out, push some doors and see what happened. Then, just recently one opened and this spring we will be moving down to Devon, near a river, and not far from the sea.

So, more details will follow about our move, and although it seems right to go just now, Scotland will always have a very special place in our hearts.

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