My Soul Home
Have you ever visited a place that somehow knows and welcomes you? A place where you feel a sense of connection, even though you've never lived there before.
My soul home is the Susannah Place Museum, situated in The Rocks, Sydney NSW. It's actually the setting of one of my favourite books and films, Playing Beatie Bow.
I first visited this place when I was 23 - and I promised myself that I would come back one day. I have in fact returned twice since then. In March 2022 & again in November 2024 . Something about this place draws me in. There is a history - and it calls me back.
Sitting on the cobblestone steps, I look up at the patchwork of timber, bricks and mottled concrete.
It tells a story. There are ghosts hidden amongst layers of paint, linoleum and wallpaper. You can hear their whispers in the alleyway, as I walk down Harrington Street and into the Seuz Canal. And then there's the old gas lamp, solitary in the street. I think of Abigail in Playing Beatie Bow - how she used it to find her way back. Sometimes we have to get lost to find ourselves again.
