I am a traveller

It was not until my mother died that I learned who she had been in life.

She was many things my mother: a teacher, a tennis champion, a politics obsessive, a great grandmother. In her 80s she was famous for getting off the lounge and back on the tennis court and winning gold for Australia at the World Super Seniors Tennis Championships. 

In her 20s she was not-famous for saving for three years to sail to England alone, a country kid who wanted to play at Wimbledon. And she did. She played her way through European championships to win a place in Wimbledon’s first round. 

This is not a post about my mother. 

In her final years, my mother spoke often of wanting to write the story of her time in the world. She agonised over not-writing. We spoke of it often. Occasionally she did write, and the writings she shared were strong, despite the agony of her protestations that she wasn’t writing. 

When my mother died I found writing I had not previously seen.

The first four words knocked me sideways: I am a traveller.

My mother loved to travel, I knew that. My mother loved to teach, to play tennis, to talk politics. These are all things she loved to do.

The four words told me who she was.

On the eve of my mother’s funeral I met my mother. 

The essence of who we are is the point and the purpose of pilgrimage. It is also the point and the purpose of the writing many, many women long to do.

It is an elusive quest, this longing to know who we are. Pilgrimage is our starting place, our walking place, our writing place, our finding place. 

In four words, who are you? 

In four words, finish this sentence: I am …

In my mother’s four words there’s not another person other than my mother. Paradoxically, in my mother’s four words is the whole world.

Who are you? Beyond your relationships, more than what you ‘do’. I am …

Stephanie Dale is an award-winning journalist, author, researcher and founder of the International Wellbeing-through-writing Institute. In 2014 she launched The Write Road, a wellbeing-through-writing initiative for rural and remote Australians. She is passionate about pilgrimage, and in 2017 initiated Walk&Write holiday writing adventures.