I came home last night from a week I can barely put into words. A gratefulness that has been warming my chest from start and it hasn't ended. The very first Sojourn and it couldn't have been a more memorable one. Thank you Jessica and Shina, for embarking on this journey together, this will forever be the standard and blueprint for all Sojourns to come.
Picture by Shina. Boscastle June 2026.
Where to begin, when the processes are still processing, the layers slowly falling away like a good proper peeling. I haven't even entirely landed fully and yet, the words just come. Leaving on the 12th, the earliest morning, clouds falling down the mountains like the waves of the ocean we'd see only a couple of days later. Breezes of salt, cool air, flowy dresses, comfy sweaters, tall gnarly rainforest trees.
There aren't enough words to express or pictures to describe what this journey has meant to me. To be able to hold space for other women, beautiful human beings, golden glowy skin in candlelight and cool waters. Ancient stones, the mistiest rain I have ever felt on my face. Challenging climbs, boundaries, love, holding hands, laughing so hard that our bellies hurt. What a beautiful, wonderful experience that made me achingly feel alive. It was difficult to part, yet we longed to go home to the ones we love, to the ones who waited for us, knowing that connected were deepened and our paths will cross again.
The Sojourns are meant as a stepping stone to your potential, a kind gesture back to yourself, a safe circle to dance, laugh, cry, talk, vent, be ridiculous, be childdish, be at peace. There was as much as presence as the need to have some time on our own. I always kept an eye out, visual distance, there, but not in the way.
And to hear the singing, voices merging, waters healing - profound experiences. Questions slowly getting answered, realisations softly tapping on the door, yet new questions and curiosities awoken for the future.
Oh, there was resistance too, tears, anger, deep breathing and release, howling and shouting in the dark, in the wind, from the cliffs. Hazy dreams, cheesy meals, trying new things, known things and scary things. That is what a Sojourn is, it is the road back to yourself, stripping away the distractions, the obligations cast on us by the outside world, the expectations and the pressures all putting on hold for a wee bit.
We were never disconnected from the world, sometimes we saw the world with unclouded eyes or life would happen and home would knock on the door with a question, a "I miss you" or simply to remind us that in our journeys, in our wanderings and wonderings - life still happens. We just tread more consciously on the land, together.
Misty moors and visiting crows, ladybugs, bees and spiders. Kind men, secure men, heart-centered men - healing the experience of the insecure, disconnected and aggressive men. As we traveled we met them all, human and animal, contrasts as is the duality of life.
I have nothing more to add at this moment, I will prepare the last bits for the Summersolstice celebration tomorrow and will after that return to doing hair as well as my studies and soft-launch the upcoming Sojourns. I will do Japan on my own first as I want to connect and experience the country as a Sojourn at my own pace. Ireland, Norway and UK next year are ready and will be so for the women who feel the call.
For now, we'll enjoy the longest day of the year on Sunday, celebrate on Saturday and return to the daily life with so many experiences, so many stories and so much love.
)O(
Lene