Neither here nor there: Loneliness, Belonging & Othering

A seven-part essay series on loneliness, belonging, and the creative life of a Third Culture Kid.

This series began as an attempt to untangle a knot of thoughts that had been with me for months. It started as a response to a piece that Neale James, host of The Photowalk Podcast, shared with his Patreon community. What emerged was something larger: an exploration of what it means to grow up as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) and how a life lived between worlds shapes loneliness, belonging, and creative expression.

For me, loneliness has rarely meant being physically alone. Instead, it has been a shifting presence—sometimes heavy, sometimes barely visible—that comes from never quite belonging anywhere. Yet that same otherness has also been a creative gift. Living on the periphery sharpens the gaze, deepens the act of observation, and allows us to make meaning out of fragments.

This essay unfolds across seven parts, each looking at a different aspect of this experience:

1. Loneliness Beyond Solitude – the ache of never quite belonging

2. Losing Language, Finding Voice – how silence became the start of creative distance

3. The Loneliness of Being Unknown – transforming disconnection into creative ground

4. Through the Eyes of the Other – how othering shapes the artist’s way of seeing

5. Identity as Mosaic – turning fragments into wholeness

6. Where Is Home? – belonging in moments, not places

7. Finding Peace in Between – choosing solitude, finding gentleness

(Links will be added as each instalment is published.)

Neither Here Nor There is not about finding resolution, but about learning to live with the in-between. It’s about how loneliness can become connection through creativity, and how those of us who never quite belong can still offer belonging to others.

I hope you’ll follow the series—and, if any part of it resonates, share your own experiences of loneliness, belonging, or creative life in the comments.