Few places spark such feeling in me the way London does. Though I was there in late May, the brief weeks between visits couldn't have gone by more slowly. It's the strangest sensation of deep, acute love, each time I see it - the sun over the Thames. Or the drizzle over the brownstones. Whichever angle, to me, London is superb, if, at times, crowded. I think it's the one place so far I haven't tired of.
You do, of some places. Or maybe not tire, but get that sensation that though nice, you've kinda had your fill. Paris, for example. I love Paris, and I'd enjoy returning some day, especially since the last time I passed through it, very briefly, heavy restrictions had just come into place. It was lonely, and terrifying, and so cold. It was passing through a place you've been before, and enjoyed, to find it unrecognizable. But although I love Paris, it's not somewhere I'd go out of my way to visit. If things line up... sort of thing.
But London... it's always my first choice. There's just something about its streets that calls out to me, for risk of sounding a little cliche-ic. London is love at first sight, at every sight, at countless sights.
This visit was particularly important to me. It was my first time traveling alone with my brother, who's 14. It's funny, being almost ten years younger than me, our relationship has always been close, but a tad different than what siblings closer in age might experience. More a caretaker role, than a peer one. And as he grows, I admit I've had trouble seeing him as a grown-up (becoming one, anyway), and struggle with still seeing him as a little kid. So this trip was educational, and a great bonding experience for us both.
It was also a shared moment in time, of the type I particularly adore. We went to see Jack White (of whom we're both big fans), and it was a unique experience. What made it so unusual was White's strict no-phone policy, meaning that if you had your phone on you, it was put away in a sealed pouch, which could only be opened by someone at the venue. So that meant no selfies, no lives, no filming your favorite song (which for some, seems to be every damn one).
It was on another level, altogether. It forced you to interact with others, especially before the show, itself, when normally, you might've been texting or finding all sorts of pretexts to check your screen. Well, it seems Jack would have none of that. Instead, it made you talk to the person you were with, or random strangers, as was the case for some.
And once he came on stage... well, if there's one thing that strikes you about this guy is that he's a stellar showman. Very addictive, and likable. He had people clapping, jumping, dancing, just in an overall frenzy.
It was unmissable.
Only that's the thing. The good stuff in life is a whole lot easier to miss than we like to think. We keep thinking life will pull us by the sleeve when there's something worth checking out. Make us look up from our phones, or get out of whatever drama's going on inside our minds at the moment. Except life doesn't. Most days, you won't get a pop-up message telling you you're messing up, or that you're missing something amazing. Usually, it will just move on by.
So you've got to learn to listen, and to devise a way to live that lets you "catch" as many great things as you can afford. Maybe it's an event, like this one. Maybe it's a holiday. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a complete change of everything you've ever known in this life... if you don't look, how will you know?
