The Unofficial Guide to Life
Halloween is over but it is not yet the festive season. People who were excited about autumn are already looking forward to whatever comes next. November is like the nothing time between Christmas and New Years when you don’t know what to do with yourself except wait for the next thing to happen. It’s a time for tapping your fingers on the desk and staring at the rain falling on the window, waiting for a miracle.
Continue reading “November”
Everybody is planning costumes and dressing up and pretending to be somebody else. I am too. For the first time in years, I actually have a Halloween party to go to. I bought a blue wig which I probably will not end up wearing for very long because it will probably be very itchy.
Continue reading “On Pretending to Be Somebody Else”
It’s the time of the year where it’s possible to smell chimney smoke again. Last week, when I was in Glencoe, I looked out the window and saw a row of white houses set against a backdrop of rolling hills, chimney smoke rising into the air. Everything felt warmer after that.
Continue reading “Chimney Smoke”
Fall is the most wistful season and fall walks are the most wistful walks. In movies, there are always montages of people walking through parks or past their old highschool, thinking about childhood or reminiscing about old loves during fall. If spring is the season of new life then fall is definitely about the past.
Continue reading “Wistful Weather”
One time, when I was very sad, I saw a picture of the sky that someone posted on Instagram and wondered how it was possible for people to be happy and post beautiful pictures of nature when I felt the worst I had ever felt. I wanted to look at the sky and feel like maybe life wasn’t so bad. Maybe it mostly isn’t – but it took a long time to remember all the reasons why.
Continue reading “Skies and Sadness”
At long last, it is sunny, crisp, windy, chilly, rainy, cosy, sometimes all at once. I have been waiting for this. I didn’t realize how badly I was longing for fall until suddenly, one ordinary morning, I felt cold and had to hug my arms to my chest. Fall is here – finally. And all I want to do is wear an orange or mustard coloured sweater.
Continue reading “Seasons”
This morning I woke up at 6:30 and lay in bed reading Atonement until 8:00. Time seemed irrelevant because I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. So I stayed in my pajamas for most of the day. Strangely enough, having nothing to do made me feel important.
Continue reading “Now vs In Two Weeks”
Even though it’s still summer, everything about September automatically feels different. The mornings are chillier, the songs are sadder, and I’m annoyed at myself for letting the whole season pass without wearing jean shorts even once.
Continue reading “Summer in Reality”
The other night, the neighbours in the apartment next door had a party. I could see them in a yellow room or out on the patio, drinking, smoking, talking too loud. Sometimes I feel sad that I missed the part of life where you’re supposed to go to parties all the time, and get drunk, and do stupid things. And sometimes I don’t care at all.
Continue reading “The Party Next Door”
Things I Learned Growing Up 