A pause for inspiration

They say that where your identity lies and where you feel most 'at home' is not necessarily where you were born or even where you have spent most of your life.
  Blonde and blue eyed and without the teeniest drop of Welsh blood in my body, right now I'm at my happiest in Wales, at least 2 hours away from south-east England where I have been based for nearly 30 years.
  Admittedly between the ages of 4 and 12 years Wales was where I was, with my family in a quiet village in Ceredigion, immersed in the language, culture and scenery. Formative years, evidently, as they say.

  Of course we all move on in life and I lost my fluency in the language and thought Wales was well behind me until my daughter went to university there about three years ago and gradually I started reconnecting very powerfully. I was planning prolonged weekends there, starting in Cardiff where my daughter is based, and slowly venturing deeper and deeper back towards a more familiar landscape away from the bright lights. 
  Right now I'm totally fixated with Camarthenshire. It has everything I'm craving - the gentle, rolling, green mountains, the sense of local identity, the vast beaches, the gentle air, yes, even the soft rain. The whole family now refers to Wales as 'the homeland', much to the consternation of many of our long-lasting acquaintances.

Last weekend I managed another precious fix. In the glorious sunshine, I breathed in the markets, the lush gardens, the shorelines, the flowering hedgerows and tasted the local produce. I'm back now with a sense of longing or hiraeth for my next visit but also a brain brimming with inspiration for my current and future projects.

  And I'm not alone, I'm noticing the work of artists and crafters based there and don't get me started on the poets and writers who keep me connected when I'm away ....