On taking what we love inside

+ exploring Home & Sanctuary in our writing class - Tuesday 21st

Jan 15, 2025

I got back to the UK just over a week ago from my trip to the USA, and oh my, did I have a rough landing. I decided to help myself ‘land’ back in this time zone and rhythm by walking in nature each day where I experienced spontaneous connections with creatures; a horse, thrush, collie dog, jack russell, two honking swans, and a tawny owl have helped to connect me back to here and now.

Yesterday morning, I met a rusty-coloured horse. He was unexpected - a new arrival in the field where the usual two horses ignored me. He ambled over. I felt his warm breath taking me in, then breathing me out. I wondered what I smelt like through the sensitive stream of his breath. I touched his gentle nose and watched his right ear turn, his chocolate eye, resting on mine.

I took what showed up as love, inside of me and it brought goodness, a spark of nourishment and life to my day.

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I took the puffed-up thrush
atop a winter tree
into me.
A tangible piece
of love in form -
it connected me
to this world -
to presence,
like the one-year-old
jack russell puppy,
rusty fur-body
trotting over crispy snow cover,
yapping like he's a danger.
I took him in
for the piece of love he is.
The collie
with one
icy-blue eye
bounded over,
bounced high to meet me
then wrestled with the pup
at my feet.
Sweet, impossible creatures,
you are all for me
and I for you.
God has brought love
to my door,
which I opened
and invited you all inside.

I spent this morning at my ‘writing desk’ (below) working on the theme of ‘home & sanctuary’ for next week’s HYDRATE online creative writing workshop. A place I feel ‘home’ is right here in nature. I find sanctuary surrounded by trees.

Imagine how your exploration of ‘home & sanctuary’ can deepen your connection to what home means for you and how it can inform your writing. Maybe you write about a character on a journey to find home within themselves, or an article on the experience of physically moving to a new home while leaving the home you knew behind, or perhaps the threads of a short story on accepting your own body as home emerge, or an experience of finding home through God/Spirituality.

We’ll explore the micro to macro - we’ll work with writing to connect with ‘home’ and what arises for you as you journey into the many layers and meanings of ‘home’ through carefully curated writing prompts and visual journeys.

Writing workshops, are not just about writing - they are personal explorative deep dives into potent themes that create inner shifts. The beauty is in the unexpected stories that reveal themselves in the moment - the ones that want to be seen by you.

We’re gathering in my cosy Zoom room on Tuesday, 21st of January from 7-8.30pm next week. Come join us - sign up right here.

What new stories are brewing under the surface in 2025?

Join us to discover them.

With love,

Jane x

REFLECT-CONNECT End-of-Year Reflective Writing online workshop is still available until the end of January. If you haven’t had a moment to reflect on your experiences of 2024 and gather the learnings, do so before the details dissolve. Create your Book of 2024 here - it’s £20 until the end of January and you’ll have access until October 2025.

Cycles, Psyche & Soul

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