Home is Not a Place

Over the years, I've been very blessed to call Vancouver my home, but I've also been fortunate to have lived in a few different places during my young life. This article so perfectly encapsulates what I feel: the constant craving for both stability and change, the niggling thoughts of displacement in the middle of the night and the extreme joy of sharing the world, one city at a time.

The chasm of distance between me and the place I left shouldn’t be remedied by a single plane ride or a simple phone call. It shouldn’t be that easy. For the pain that expanse has caused me, that trip should take a lifetime. 

Because making a home out of all the places I’ve lived has been simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. Some days I delight in the fact that my soul is deposited in several pockets of the world. Other days it makes me feel empty. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to retrieve those parts of myself, or if they were meant to stay there, unbeknownst to all those who come after me.

Power Outage

Skåne

No electricity means no charging my laptop or my phone, no watching TV, no surfing the internet. But that's fine, I'm not really dependent on technology anyways. My phone is not permanently attached to my hand*, in fact, I can go the whole day without bothering to look at it. I don't watch TV much anymore, and I can survive without the internet. Most likely. Probably. Maybe? You know what, I even like to read! And cook! And other non-tech things like be sociable!

But I had just finished my last midterm (maybe of all time!) and was exhausted and had numbers crammed into my head and I just wanted to zone out. No power?

#FirstWorldProblems #WhatWouldTheAmishDo

I ended up tethering my phone to get internet on my computer. But when my laptop died, I made the final nerd leap and drove to the library before it closed so I could charge my laptop for the night and use their internet. The stark realization was that I couldn't handle not having something tech-ish at my disposal. And that was lowering. Definitely something to think about.

*How funny that just a few years ago this sentence would have been "My phone is not permanently attached to my ear"!

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II

Sayonara, midterms. And as a friend put it, I wrote my last midterm of my undergraduate degree.
Whoa.

Snowshoe romance

I was snowshoeing in Mt Seymour's backcountry a few weeks ago and there were flower petals along the entire trail! It looked so sweet - a few bursts of pinks and purples and reds scattered around, leading to the viewpoint where there were remnants of a bonfire and petals surrounding the entire area. Pretty darn romantic! I wonder if someone just proposed? Or was it just a really adorable date? And not much can beat the view of downtown Vancouver when the sun hits the water just so. Lucky girl.

Seawall

What was a questionable weather day turned out to be a spectacularly sunny afternoon (typical). I spent some time along the seawall and it was actually the first time I've gone around the entire thing. I feel invigorated! I've always just visited parts of Stanley Park and all too often, I am too lazy to deal with the traffic to North Van. I should definitely make it a point to come more often.

This reminds me of seeing The National play at the Malkin Bowl awhile back. They are my favourite band (I would say of all time, but I'm too indecisive to proclaim that!) and they were absolutely, undeniably, heart wrenchingly amazing. Gosh, I need to see them play again. Soon.

the blues

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