Creativity Lab Report #12: Over and out!
Farewell London and farewell to this email list; our future emails will be received exclusively to those who Rejoined the lab and will be sent from our new home out west! We'll send pictures once we get there! :)
Thank you so much to everyone who closely followed our journey here in Ontario, and especially those who became our good good friends! We'll miss you dearly and hope you can all come to visit soon!
"May you have a life full of love to share, health to spare and friends who care." We wish you all the happiest and most exciting New Year!
A little story
It is December 28th, 2014, and I am boarding a plane with a sleeveless top and my favourite jeans. The breeze is warm, but the air feels thick. The moon seems big and shines its light covering this great airplane that soon would take me across the continent. It is 7:30 pm, and as I look through the window with tears in my eyes and tangles in my stomach, I say my goodbyes to my family, friends, childhood, and memories. My piece of the Caribbean sea and the Avila, the majestic mountain that guards my hometown of Caracas, Venezuela. A display of tiny lights from the stacked brick homes paints the edges of the mountain. I didn't know how much time would pass until I could see them again. So at a distance, the scariest, worst neighbourhood in town seemed beautiful and calm. It has been seven years, and I still haven't been back.
After a brief scale in Bogota, accompanied by a feast of fresh fruit, I continue my journey towards my new home. A temporary "base camp" in London, Ontario. As I look through the window, there's an endless blanket of shinning bulbs covering the flatlands. Spots of street lights show white powder on the roads. You have arrived at the Toronto Pearson Airport; it's time to offboard. I grab the closest thing I had to a winter jacket that is tucked at the bottom of my backpack, wrap a scarf around my neck, change my flip flops for furred boots and get my passport ready to go. After 6 months apart, Carl would be waiting for me at the other side of those sliding airport doors.
For better or worse, this was the place I had to learn to call home for as long as we could. This city was not my choice, but there are certain things worth doing for love. The months that followed were filled with uncertainty, doubts and despair. I almost convinced myself that I needed to get on another plane. But again, having Carl by my side made me stay.
It is now December 28th, 2021, and as we finish loading the moving truck to get away, we look back at all the things and friends we've made. It might have not been our choice to end up in this place, but as we always do, we gave our very best. Steve Jobs once said that you cannot connect the dots looking ahead. Perhaps we needed to be here to grow and learn, to gather the necessary tools to prepare us for the next place. Our eyes are now locked ahead. Out west. And for the fourth time, we'll start again.
Special thanks to those who made the time to say goodbye. We love you and will miss you so much!
On our bookshelf
One of the books that impacted us the most this year was Why we Sleep by Matthew Walker, it felt fitting to wrap up this year by talking about one of out new top priorities for 2022. Aside from helping us recover, sleep fuels creativity and inspiration, spark wild dreams and help make them come true!
The author stated that "Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day–mother nature's best effort yet at contra-death," and we couldn't agree more. Sleep offers an abundant constellation of benefits that service our bodies and brains. The book was so fascinating that trying to simplify its contents in a paragraph would be a huge understatement, so I hope you all set the time aside to read it!
You can also listen to Matthew's interview at the Rich Roll podcast
In our minds
“To be a learner, you’ve got to be willing to be a fool.” – George Leonard.
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