Where reflection and play spark momentum and ease
Hejmo (pronounced HEY–mo) means home in Esperanto—a word for the place you return to when you need room to think, breathe, and find your footing again.
It also points to something deeper: the sense that your life and your creative work have a path that's truly yours, one that feels natural when you follow it. Finding that path can feel like coming home.
That idea shapes the way we work here.
Most of us move through our days sensing there’s another way to live and create—one with more freedom, more honesty, and more space to follow what feels true. But life fills quickly. Responsibilities pile. We rarely give ourselves the time or the quiet to see what we actually long for.
Sometimes you know what you want to make or change, but you don’t know where to begin. Other times you’ve been carrying ideas for years and haven’t had the chance to bring them into form.
Hejmo is here to give you that room, along with the simple tools and company you need to move forward in a way that feels heartfelt and sustainable.
FIVE STEPS
These five steps describe the simple arc of how we work. Not rules, not a system—just a consistent way to return to yourself and creating what's calling you.
Every creative life begins in the middle of something—or at the edge of a threshold: a season, a question, a mess, a longing. There’s no need to prepare yourself first. You can start right where you are, with what you have.
Before anything takes shape on the outside, it starts with a small shift on the inside. Pausing, noticing, asking honest questions—these are quiet movements, but they change everything.
Good work needs space. Space to think, space to rest, space to try again. Clearing a little room in your day—and in your mind—opens the way for ideas that have been waiting.
You don’t have to work fast. You don’t have to do everything. You only need to take the next true step. Intention keeps your path honest and your energy focused on what matters to you the most.
When you follow your own pace and your own direction, your work starts to feel like you. This is where ease shows up. Not as a shortcut, but as a way of moving that fits.
NINE BEACONS
Hejmo sits at the intersection of creativity, mindful presence, calm clarity, embodied making, and quiet belonging. Nine values guide how we live, work, create, and collaborate.
Being here, you notice what’s essential. Attention grows from presence, and presence is where good work begins.
Clutter—inner or outer—makes it hard to see. We keep things simple so you can stay connected to what wants your attention.
True work comes from telling the truth about what you desire, what you fear, and what you hope for.
Your work becomes clearer when it’s aligned with what you care about. We honor that alignment at every step.
Small questions open big doors. Curiosity is often the first step toward change—and the source of many good surprises.
Whether you’re writing, making, or building a business, craft is of the essence. It asks you to slow down and care.
Ease isn’t laziness; it’s a way of moving that keeps you in the process instead of fighting against it.
We create better, braver work when we’re not alone. Being witnessed—and being generous—both change things.
Your creative life should support you, not drain you. We look for ways of working that last and feel natural.
A DOORWAY
What we offer is a quiet, structured way to create and make decisions without pressure. No formulas. No hustle. No comparison. Just clear tools and a calm place to listen to yourself.
Our approach is simple. We turn to inquiry, empathy, and story as the three tools that shape every guide, course, and gathering. Each one is made to give you room to reflect, reset, and move toward what’s next at a pace that feels right for you.
We don’t hand out answers or instructions. Instead, we help you see your own work more clearly—what’s calling for attention, what wants to grow, and what no longer fits.
Sometimes that looks like asking better questions. Sometimes it means slowing down so you can hear what’s underneath the noise. Sometimes it’s about noticing the patterns, strengths, and instincts that have been there all along.
It leaves space for curiosity, experimentation, and the natural changes that come with being a creative person. We believe in small steps, honest reflection, and simple structures that help you stay connected to what calls you.
People come here for many reasons, and each path looks a little different. However you begin, you’ll find room, support, and a way forward that fits who you are. You’re welcome to start wherever you feel the pull.
Download The Wayfinding Companion: Twenty-One Quiet Reminders for Beginning Again. It's a guided journal for clearing the noise, reconnecting with yourself, and finding your next true step. And It's our gift to you.
Guides, classes, and programs that help you bring clarity and ease into your creative life and the work you do. These resources are here to help you shape a path that feels grounded, meaningful, and true to who you are.
Story circles and narrative programs where you can look closely at your lived experience, find the language for it, and share it at your own pace. A place for lifewriting and story-powered work, held with care and community.
Support for creatives and entrepreneurs who want to expand their work and strengthen their voice—through gentle guidance and story-powered business consulting. A way to move forward with calm confidence.
Artist & Designer, USA
“This course provides a strong structure, a container for personal inquiry at a deep soul level. Writing and journaling using this unique program, I have a new understanding of the facets of my personality and soul. This has allowed me to align the inside and outside, the introvert and extrovert, the personal and public, in a whole new way.”
Artist, Author & Creativity Guide, UK
“I’m amazed by Cigdém's breadth and depth of knowledge and wisdom. I appreciated the slow and considered intake, without overwhelm. The camaraderie and feeling of belonging was, hands down, the biggest win. I learned things about business that have helped me streamline and develop what I’m doing. And the confidence I’ve gained have made it easier to take the sometimes scary steps I need to take to keep moving forward in my work.”
Artist & Writer, USA
“My heart is leaping out of my chest, Cigdém! This is so amazing for my logical brain and I can play so well with my creativity/writing with this framework. Thank you for this.”
Hejmo is unfolding piece by piece. In the months ahead, you’ll start to see:
Simple tools and printables to help you think things through, plan gently, and keep your creative life steady.
Journals, notebooks, zines, and practice decks that invite curiosity and give you a place to explore your ideas.
Mindfulness kits and writing prompts for days when you need a reset or a small spark.
Courses and workshops led by thoughtful creatives and teachers—spaces for learning that feel calm, honest, and encouraging.
Story circles and creative gatherings that let you share your work and be seen by people who understand the creative path.
Art prints and visual pieces to bring a sense of warmth and inspiration to the places where you think, write, and make.
Everything we’re making is meant to help you feel in your element and create what feels true to you—so that you feel truly alive and at home in your own life.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
[CHEE-daem KOH-boo]
Well, hello there—I'm glad you're here.
I hold a degree in film and media studies with a focus on writing and directing. In my twenties I joined the American Board in Istanbul, where I worked in education and publishing for nearly two decades. When that 185-year institution closed in 2010, I turned the page and began a new life in the U.S.
After many years of teaching, writing, and making alongside creative people, I saw a need for simple tools that invite calm, spark curiosity, and bring ease back into living and working. In 2013, I founded my company to create those tools and experiences—quiet, steady companions for the creative path.
Over the years I’ve worn many hats: consultant, writer, award-winning translator, entrepreneur. Like the poet wrote, I contain multitudes. What ties my work together is a belief that creativity flourishes when given both structure and spaciousness.
I’m drawn to helping people who want a gentler way to live and work—people who want to create with clarity, confidence, and a sense of home in themselves.
Recently, I reshaped my work to reflect this new chapter in my life. Hejmo grew from that shift—a place for returning, reimagining, and beginning again. I chose the name not to build a personality around myself, but to create a shared dwelling for kindred spirits—a warm, human-scaled space where the work matters more than the person at the center.
I live with Mr. Magnificent and Mochi-the-Cat in central New Jersey, surrounded by woodlands, ponds, and the quiet charm of old Victorian towns. My name, Cigdém, means crocus in Turkish—the flower that breaks winter’s grip with its color. Crocus blooms whisper, “Hold on; joy is near.” They carry the promise of spring—of new ideas, daring endeavors, and fresh beginnings. That spirit of renewal is what I hope you’ll find here.
TWENTY-ONE JEWELS
In my own creative life, I return to these lines the way one returns to a familiar room—quietly, without ceremony, trusting they will offer something you can lean on. They’ve guided me for years and shaped how I see my work and the world. I offer them to you with the hope that one or two will stay with you.
Click each to read more.
"Attention is the beginning of devotion." — MARY OLIVER
"Zen pretty much comes down to three things—everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention." — JANE HIRSHFIELD
"Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry." — LEONARD KOREN
"We shape our lives by what we choose to create, not by what we choose to eliminate." — ROBERT FRITZ
"I believe in the balance between dreaming and building." — NERI OXMAN
"We do not always create works of art, but rather, experiments. It is not our intention to fill museums. We are gathering experience." — JOSEPH ALBERS
"Art happens when you intend it to happen. It happens when you leap with intention... The act is the point, more so than ever." — ANNE BOGART
"Creating is the most intense excitement one can come to know." — ANNI ALBERS
"All becoming is based on movement." — PAUL KLEE
"I don’t do work that is of this time; I do work that is my work." — LISSA HUNTER
"You change the world by being yourself." — YOKO ONO
"I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to know better." — FRIDA KAHLO
"Make your unknown known, crystallizing your simpler, clearer vision of life." — GEORGIA O'KEEFE
"A genius is the one most like himself.” — THELONIOUS MONK
“Rejecting style or trend and consciously building in a timeless, unfashionable way ensures our work stays relevant.” — ILSE CRAWFORD
"Once in a while, it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to." — ALAN KEIGHTLEY
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” — RUMI
"Work is love made visible." — KAHLIL GIBRAN
"Isolation is the dream killer." — BARBARA SHER
"Art urges voyages." — GWENDOLYN BROOKS
"To understand is to perceive patterns." — ISAIAH BERLIN
A GIFT FOR YOU
Twenty-One Quiet Reminders for Beginning Again
I’ve expanded each reminder I shared above into a short reflection and a writing prompt. Together, they became a guided journal for finding your next true step—a small gift from me to you. You’re welcome to download The Wayfinding Companion: Twenty-One Quiet Reminders for Beginning Again. Enjoy!