Returning

How many places do you visit that you will never see again?

I thought this was the standard. You have one-off relationships with different places and cities because life changes. You evolve in life and naturally change: cities, careers, relationships, old selves.

Some people consciously make an effort to come back to where they are from. People move back to where they were raised to have a larger support network. Some are attracted to those places that made impressions on them in childhood.

I was never interested in coming back to any place I spent significant time in, because I wanted to move forwards, not backwards.

But as I allowed enough time to pass, I started returning to the places I'd been to, but in different contexts. The places that I thought I was done with, crept back into my life under different circumstances. I never would have thought I'd consistently return to a Canadian town of 12,000 people.

Now when I go through a new city, collection of alleyways, a green space, or zero lot line store - I stop. I take a look around and make sure I really see the place. I think about the possibility that something more is there for me to discover, but I just don't know what or yet.

Every place now has become more than just a place. It has become special.