Returning to Portugal from my homeland of Cymru, still thinking of borders and cultures and what it means to belong. It is difficult to carve out a life that you don’t already see elsewhere – a life that celebrates family and community as much as expansive horizons and travel. I don’t believe the two are mutually exclusive, and so I work to knit the two tighter in my life’s work. Yesterday, feeling ill but ridiculously happy, I sat on the van step in the warm Portuguese sunshine while the mist-filled trees of Cymru sang in my heart, and understood that there is no narrow, reductive choice to be made between one or the other, I am of the earth: I choose her, as she chooses me. I also choose a migratory life, like the swallow, the goose, the redwing and the countless other beings who migrate each year. Some creatures travel in flocks, others alone or in couples, but still there’s enough room for us all to live the life that calls us. I hope that you find a way of life that feels right for you, however that may manifest, and when you do I hope you manage to keep a tight grip on it until it becomes as natural as the trees blossoming in spring.
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