Hermitage…..the dwelling of a hermit.

The word hermitage often evokes visions of an old, cloaked sage, nestled deeply within a forest, detached from humankind, spending time within the nucleus of nature, fundamentally, within oneself.

In my youth, I classed myself as a social butterfly, constantly surrounded by people, loathing my own company, and always feeling the need for outside influence. Then through my late teens, I embarked on the monumental path of motherhood, and as a consequence of the social butterfly aspect, I, over the space of two decades became Mum to eleven! This validating the need for constant company.

 In the fishing town where I grew up, I became known as ‘that woman with loads of kids’ and wherever we lived, we came up against much angst solely because of our number, yet still I found myself constantly surrounded by people, many who claimed to be my friends.

It wasn’t until I turned forty, that we decided to relocate across the country, the eldest of the children having already flown the nest, we settled down to a new life, a new adventure, leaving behind all that was familiar. Circumstances have a funny way of throwing you into the unknown, forcing you to do things you ordinarily wouldn’t.

We found ourselves with a house full of children who didn’t follow the same thought process as the more typical, Autism being the reason, our children were most definitely not social butterflies and found that mixing in any social circle was truly overwhelming, and a consequence of this we stepped back from society simply to cocoon them.

This is where my journey on the path of hermit began, slowly and surely, I began to enjoy my own company and filled my days doing things I had never previously found the time for, I began to explore art, sketching, drawing, and painting, and then, more importantly, I connected to nature, as appose to my former life where meeting in one of the many cafes with friends took precedence.

Now I find myself in a place where I can look back to my former life, my former self and realise that with so many external influences, I never had the opportunity to be me, as others are all too often quick to judge, I found that I was forever living my life to please others and not myself.

This brings me to anonymity, very much a thing of the past, yet for me it encompasses an air of mysticism. If we bear all there is no mystery, yet in modern society, it is the norm for every person on social media platforms to bear all, even what they are having for dinner. I understand that we are now expected to be visible, even more so now that I am a writer. Yet, I find after my many years of hermit life, I no longer feel comfortable sharing all with so many, this probably stems from the fact that I spend much of my free time in nature and am never expected to bear anything.

So my lovelies, my advice to anyone who feels that life is sometimes a little overwhelming, take a step backwards, remove yourself for a while and take the time to find the real you….

Thank you for taking the time to read,

Louise X