Entangled

Thanks for this - I will try to get this book.

Thanks for all the replies. I find the stories of this inexplicable 'sense of belonging' fascinating, I will try to find time today to find out more about genetic memory. The author Dean Radin looks at unexplained connection to place and people EG How twins separated at birth, growing up in different countries can have lives that evolve in identical ways. He maintains we are linked to some people and places on a molecular level - quantum physics – I can't understand most of it but it still interests me

I remember my first year living in Cairns. At first, I thought I wouldn't cope. Showers three or four times a day and no energy. I got used to it and found I had to avoid all synthetic clothes - linen and cotton - loose with no sleeves. I wore rubber thongs or latex shoes (leather went mouldy) and I got to enjoy the wet season, always having a patina of perspiration that keeps you cool and being in the rain - it was cooling and you dry quickly. Forget fancy hairdos or lots of makeup. The dry season – Apri; to October was glorious - an even temperature around 27 degrees and lower humidity. Having the right sort of house helps. 'Queenslanders' were built for maximum airflow.

I remember my first year living in Cairns. At first, I thought I wouldn't cope. Showers three or four times a day and no energy. I got used to it and found I had to avoid all synthetic clothes - linen and cotton - loose with no sleeves. I wore rubber thongs or latex shoes (leather went mouldy) and I got to enjoy the wet season, always having a patina of perspiration that keeps you cool and being in the rain - it was cooling and you dry quickly. Forget fancy hairdos or lots of makeup. The dry season – Apri; to October was glorious - an even temperature around 27 degrees and lower humidity.

Several other stories from friends and acquaintances have also fascinated me. One in particular: A very good friends is third generation quintessential Australian beef farmer – tough as a nut, practical and stoic. She visited to the village where her patriarchal family were the lords of the manor (so to speak). In the village church were sarcophagi containing some of her ancestors. While in this space, she started to cry and didn't stop being tearful for three days. she couldn't understand it - she was having a lovely time in the UK and her husband thought she had popped her cork.

Thank you for the link.(I have not heard of genetic memory so I am keen to read it later today) Please don't get me wrong, I am not yearning to go back and live in Scotland. I am just fascinated by the palpable feeling I get when I set foot in the country. It doesn't happen in England and Ireland where I have family although I love both those countries. So I am exploring where this feeling comes from and am open to the fact that although my migrant/exiled parents tried to hide their grief and homesickness. They came out here after WW2 so that makes me super-old. I am also fascinated by the belief of the Indigenous people of Australia of belonging to country. That seems to be beyond family ties and is something more spiritual

Born in Scotland, I am a long time resident of Australia. Australia has been good to me. For a long time, I tried to dismiss feelings of belonging elsewhere as fanciful. I migrated with my parents when I was too young to remember the land of my birth but whenever I go back to the UK, as soon as I step onto the soil, hear the voices, I feel 'at home'. I have no family (just a few friends) there. What I am trying to say is: I feel a connection that is more than nostalgia, more than friends. It is almost as if the country is part of my DNA and I would love to know if anyone else feels like that.