Thursday, October 12, 2017

Oh Toronto, We Meet Again...

It was this time last year, October 2016.  Our first #tripTOremember had just ended, and I had that pit in my stomach – the same pit I have now.   I knew I remembered the feeling, but not the specifics of it until it came back to me again.  I guess it’s like when you break a bone, the doctors tell you if you’ve done it before, you’re certain to remember the exact feeling once it happens again, and you’ll know for sure.  And yes, that is completely true, but this time it’s not a bone that is breaking, it’s a little corner of my heart – but in a good way.

I know you’re thinking god, how depressing is this girl, she just got back from a magical vacation and now she’s all rain clouds and dark skies… But no, seriously, that’s how you feel when the skyscrapers, waterfront sunsets, seamless city skies, coffee smells, and a lifestyle you were just getting used to disappears.  Okay fine, I guess I do sound a little under the weather now that the trip is over, but you would too.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – Toronto is everything.  I’ve traveled to so many different cities, but none have sucked me in and spat me out with the same force as this Canadian metropolis.  After almost a week there, I feel far more cultured, inspired, and full of desire to explore and grow than I usually do when I get back from a trip.  Maybe it’s the air, the bright city lights, the buzzing of horns, songs and laughter on sidewalk corners, the Scarborough Bluffs, the more peace and less hate you can feel among the crowds, the church bells that wake you up every hour of the night, or maybe it’s something that can’t be explained, but this city changes you.  It takes who you were, who you want to be, and it teaches you that you actually can be anything you want, and that you really can go anywhere you want to go.  It’s a wide-awake urban dream dripping in philosophy, art, music, literature, different people, food, scenery, history, charm – and when you look around at all of this, it’s then that you realize… the opportunities are endless. If you’re a romantic, a dreamer, a hopeful doer, a person with a list of goals like me but need the bravery to make them happen, then this city is for you.  And, this lesson is best learned over a hot mocha latte from Aroma Coffee, if you ask me.

And that leaves me here, writing this post, trying my hardest to fill the pit in my stomach with memories, enthusiasm for the next visit (#tripTOremember3), wisdom, and the awareness that I am just a little bit closer to who I want to be - today, October 2017.

So with that, I want to say thank you, Toronto, for inspiring me to sit here and create, to finish writing and publishing my first book, for reminding me that a special sister bond only gets stronger with age, and for also reminding me that no matter where this world takes me, one little piece in the puzzle of my life will always be there --  toasting to this beautiful life over a glass of Syrah with my sister, in our thirties, on Yonge Street, Toronto.


With love,
Holly