ORBIT
19 WRITERS JOURNEY THROUGH - DISTANCE, BELONGING & TOWARDS THE PULL OF HOME
DEAR ORBITER,
In 1870, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. said — “Where we love is home — home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
In every culture, home has been more than walls or geography; it is rhythm, ritual, and belonging. For some, it is the taste of a grandmother’s stew, for others, the song of a river or the sway of a familiar dance. Home is memory woven into objects — a scarf, a garden, a photograph — and into gestures so ordinary they become sacred.
This week, we open Issue XI as an exhibition: a gallery of what home looks and feels like. Through images, reflections, and keepsakes, we map the constellations of identity, culture, and authenticity that bind us together across distances.
Here, every image is more than itself. It is a pulse of belonging. A reminder that though our orbits differ, the pull of home is universal. 🌿
WELCOME TO PLANET RAL
Ral Joseph
In six ways,
A wedding picture of my sister keeps me grounded a long distance from home. My favourite diner across the street. My bed which happens to be my favourite work station. A jar of Arabian tea to calm my nerves each time. An African pumpkin from my farm and a full table of farm fruits; a weekly special courtesy from my neighbour.
TRULY YOURS — RAL JOSEPH © 2025Tracey Scott-Townsend
Home is all these things
Home is sometimes on the move, when the van stops for the night and I set up the bed. It’s the rug under my bare feet, the baby’s head, the texture of a tree trunk or vegetables from the garden. It’s my writing shed, and the books on my shelves.
TRULY YOURS — TRACEY SCOTT-TOWNSEND © 2025Mark Farley
My journey in life started in Malaysia. Just before the country became independent.
IMAGE 1: My current home is a ground-floor flat surrounded by a river, keeping water in my life. IMAGE 2: An important outdoor space for wandering and photography. IMAGE 3: Digital art of a jungle reflected in a reservoir. IMAGE 4: My beliefs are still influenced by my childhood in the Orient. IMAGE 5: A map of my houseboat, my tranquil island with great sunrises and sunsets.
TRULY YOURS — MARK FARLEY © 2025Sue Reid
Dartmoor National Park.
Home of 365 granite tors standing for millions of years.Home to pixies, ghosts, and the hound of the Baskerville. To wild ponies and giant slugs. This is my paradise on my doorstep.
TRULY YOURS — SUE REID © 2025Issue XII will be released as a visual magazine, downloadable as a Zine — and available exclusively to paid subscribers. Don’t miss it. 🌍🔥
Tangled Words
So many houses, so few homes.
One is the stoic Elm. where the ghost of my father sits. folding up flannel sleeves.. on the step just out of sight.. Sighing out goodbyes he forgot to write.
The other a memory of the Blue Ridge Mountains.. Trails of mother nature holding up her shield.. Serving peaceful breezes for tea.
TRULY YOURS — TANGLED WORDS © 2025Glen Woods
For me home is not so much in a place or even a thing.
There’s no items or possessions that feel like “home” to me. Home to me is in my girls. My daughter, my granddaughters and my wolf. Where they are is home.
TRULY YOURS — GLEN WOODS © 2025Harinath👍✨
Ceremony: A robust ritual for worshipping God. Complete Meal: A full meal on a banana leaf with a specific, scientifically-backed eating process. Diwali: The festival of lights, celebrated with friends and family, making India glow brighter than anywhere else in the world. Holi: The festival of colors, a joyful and fun event where people play with colors and water. Our Garden: A place for playing, collecting pebbles, and swinging for hours in makeshift hammocks. Rangoli: Art made with colored stone powder on the lawn, created by the women of the family by sunrise, and a place for gossip.
TRULY YOURS — HARINATH © 2025Debbie Liu
Home,
an adopted country, home, country of birth. Lucky I’m not an exile, when leaving home is not choice. Perennially nostalgic, happy to be in one country, but always missing the other. Sunset, moonrise, and always the ocean or water. 北斗 Bei Dou, my celestial home: so far away from home.
TRULY YOURS — DEBBIE LIU © 2025Issue XII will be released as a visual magazine, downloadable as a Zine — and available exclusively to paid subscribers. Don’t miss it. 🌍🔥
Candy Kennedy
"Home" is no longer just four walls;
it's a shell carried on my back, like a crab. So long as I have my hat, a book, a mug of coffee, and my iPad to write by the sea, I am at peace.
TRULY YOURS — CANDY KENNEDY © 2025Jon Pinter
San Diego,
We live in Normal Heights, San Diego. Our cats are Paco and Maxwell. We have a garden and a large yard. I bike every day.
TRULY YOURS — JON PINTER © 2025Pat Welsh
Home.
Is the symbol that represents us and the silky blue sky hung over sky, gently and graciously looking down on us and our home. Home is far beyond walls but natures and identity all in one.
TRULY YOURS — PAT WELSH © 2025Sacred Rebelle
The locket and then another…
…showing my parents' tiny pictures on the inside. I spring from them both in many ways … and hopefully have evolved the lineage a step or two in my life. I feel distance from them, yet I feel belonging and the pull of home when I look at this beautiful locket and how it has traveled with me my whole life.
TRULY YOURS — SACRED REBELLE © 2025Laura Catanzano
Home for me is;
IMAGE 1: My wedding rings, children's birthstone rings, and my "nursing" ring. Held in a ring dish made by my son. IMAGE 2: My best friend's snoot. IMAGE 3: A quilt my mother had made for me of my children's baby onesie and blankets.
TRULY YOURS — LAURA CATANZANO © 2025Issue XII will be released as a visual magazine, downloadable as a Zine — and available exclusively to paid subscribers. Don’t miss it. 🌍🔥
hopper’s Newsletter
Home, to me,
is both forge and reliquary. At the desk, where keys strike like hammers, stories take shape as living oaths. On the shelves, relics and books guard the past, each a fragment of memory. Together they bind me, root and fire, remembrance and creation, into belonging.
TRULY YOURS — HOPPER © 2025Janin Lyndovsky
"Home is peace and freedom.”
Home is nature—the mountains and outback, creeks and lakes, wildlife and pets. It’s not a perfectly designed, spotlessly clean building, but a safe space where every soul feels welcome, safe and free."
TRULY YOURS — JANIN LYNDOVSKY © 2025Tetiana S
Home, for me, is the smell of fresh cucumbers on the vine,…
…my grandma’s holubtsi, and the waffle cake my mum baked when I was little. It’s the plush sheep from Lviv that I still hold every night before I fall asleep. I haven’t been back to Ukraine in years, but these small things remind me that home can be carried within me, no matter how far I am.
TRULY YOURS — TETIANA S. © 2025Sandra-Marisa
"A cozy, small home by the sea offers a serene escape,…
…where the gentle sound of waves lulls the mind. My djembe, a comforting companion, resonates with warmth and familiarity, creating a sense of belonging no matter where we find ourselves together."
TRULY YOURS — SANDRA-MARISA © 2025Issue XII will be released as a visual magazine, downloadable as a Zine — and available exclusively to paid subscribers. Don’t miss it. 🌍🔥
Domenic Pappas
Late-night drives on forest roads.
Chinatown is alive with neon and
the steam of dumplings and soup. Coming home and finding my cat in a
strange position.
TRULY YOURS — DOMENIC PAPPAS © 2025Loriana Prioteasa
Home is a feeling, simple yet subtle,
like love, like belonging.
Warm bread and chamomile tea. Small kittens and books and candles. My sewing corner and walking barefoot in the garden. A true home is always love-made.
TRULY YOURS — LORIANA PRIOTEASA © 2025Shay Brené
My children’s backpacks….
…My affirmation wall in the shape of a heart on the door of my room. My closet. And my piano. These are the few objects that make me feel at home. Being raised in an abusive household, I find very few things in my house that are anywhere close to what I call home. Home is a cold place. But my children, my closet, my piano, and words of affirmation are the few that keep me warm. I’ve been told many times that this house I live in is not my home. I had to fight over the ownership of the piano I played for over 20 years. I retreat to my closet to find any sense of peace and self. I feel trapped most days and alone. However, these hold great sentimental value; they have been my escape, my joy, my love, and my peace.
TRULY YOURS - SHAY BRENE © 2025BOOK RECOMMENDATION — My First Book
"Legacy of Loss" - is a deeply personal story about Joseph, a man of strong morals who is both respected and feared. When his enemies, disguised as family, betray him, his trust in others becomes his biggest weakness. The story spans generations, exploring how his absence affects his wife and children. It delves into themes of abandonment, resilience, and the search for peace after pain, bridging the gap between past and present, tradition and transformation.
SATURDAY SOUNDTRACK — WHAT'S TRENDING?🎵
“Dead Dance” — by Lady Gaga. Directed by Tim Burton as a motion Soundtrack for the Netflix series “Wednesday” — “Dead Dance” released on September 3rd, 2025.
CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS ISSUES — X, IX, VIII & I
Issue XII will be released as a visual magazine, downloadable as a Zine — and available exclusively to paid subscribers. Don’t miss it. 🌍🔥
And if you love a good tea 🍵 or coffee ☕like I do, support my savvy drinking habit. You're an absolute Angel 🌿🌺 (Here)
Dear Orbiter, This Saturday, September 20th, Planet Ral rests.
We take a pause — to breathe, to reset, and to honor the weight each issue carries.
Planet Ral is growing, and with it comes the responsibility to sustain this orbit. Every editorial is curated with care, time, and love — and moving forward, our constellation shines brighter with the support of paid subscribers. Upgrade today for just $5/month to belong fully to the orbit — and to unlock Issue XII, the archives, and the future of Planet Ral.
We return on Saturday, September 27th, with Issue XII: Firelight — The Hope We Carry in the Dark. 🔥This issue will be exclusive to subscribers only — curated as a visual magazine and made downloadable as a Zine for your collection.
Your callout prompt:
Write a short essay in 150 words.
#Begin with: “In the dark, I hold onto…” (Paragraph 1)
#Continue with: “My firelight is…” (Paragraph 2)
(Optional: record a 1-minute audio of your piece.
What a beautiful edition! I loved seeing all the photos and the ways home is experienced across continents. No matter where we live, the understanding of home — love, peace, and connection — is something we all share. Thank you so much, Ral, for including me!
Ral, thank you for the privilege of inviting me to be a part of this heart-led journey! Through your work, I was able to step into other people’s homes, and it felt amazing. Once again, I realized that home is, and will always be, something that connects us all, reminding us that deep down, our hearts are rooted in the same love and belonging. Congratulations to all the wonderful authors -I’m truly grateful I found you!