Open heart to open heart

My front yard is a cemetery.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, to be exact. For those not from Toronto, this cemetery is also a hot spot for walkers, runners, bikers, and even cross-country skiiers. Designated a National Historic Site of Canada, it spans 205 acres worth of footpaths and botanical gardens, beautiful monuments, a full blown arboretum with more species of trees than I could even come close to naming.

I feel most myself when I'm in nature and I am beyond grateful to get to live in the city, but be so close to green space. For however long we live in our place, I look forward to exploring the cemetery, befriending and honouring the spirits who lay in rest here and observing the beauty and changes throughout the four seasons.

On a recent walk I was taking in the sea of tombstones, some adorned with fresh flowers and patterns of footprints in the surrounding snow, a sign of recent visitors. As I read the engraved last names it struck me that this blur of marble, slate and granite represents thousands of stories, thousands of souls. Nothing like strolling through a cemetery to give you a hit of existential reckoning.

It made me think that in our short time here, our lives are meant to touch the lives of others. We are meant to share our stories openly and with vulnerability. We are meant to soften our hearts, to allow ourselves to be seen and draw closer to one another, inching gently until we are face to face, open heart to open heart.

It served as a reminder for me to show up and allow myself to be seen. In my relationships, in my interactions with strangers, in my work, and here on this platform. We leave behind our stories and it's an honour to get to be in community bearing witness to each other.

Community: What is a word you would use to describe this current chapter of your story? Let me know in the comments 💕💕💕