Stand up!!

All in this together

January 29, 2020 /

Boy, has it been a while since I last wrote… Okay, my journal doesn’t count. That’s my personal chaos, my messy, unfiltered thoughts spilling onto pages no one will ever see. But here? Here, it’s been a minute. And, wow, has life happened in the meantime.

Summer. Can we have it back now, please? I know, I know—I’m Canadian. I should be used to winter by now, and honestly, we’ve had it easy this year. But with February creeping up, I can’t help but plead: Winter, please, stay kind.

This summer, I actually fell in love with the city again. Maybe because I hadn’t spent a summer here in a couple of years. Maybe because I was seeing it with fresh eyes. But Toronto… man, we’re lucky to live here. The people, the food, the late-night buzz of the streets. The sheer diversity of everything. I forgot how good it felt to be out and about in my eclectic, accepting, vibrant home. It’s weird how sometimes you don’t realize how much you’ve missed something until you’re right back in it.

Shoutout to my parents—the real MVPs of summer. Otey loved his time with his grandparents, and I loved my time rediscovering a piece of myself. I went back to my roots, to the thing I always come back to: hair styling. I said goodbye to the banking world, and honestly? No regrets. Banking worked for a past version of me, a life that feels so distant now that I pretend it never happened. It taught me a lot, sure, but it lacked something I crave: creativity.

And my job now? It gives me both—a way to make a living and a way to create. To be around people. To make them feel beautiful, seen, real. There’s something magical about watching someone light up when they step out of my chair. When they see themselves the way I see them—stunning, confident, authentic. In a world like this, where everything feels so uncertain, isn’t that what we all want? To feel like ourselves. To feel good. To feel, period.

Speaking of uncertainty—2019, what a wild ride. We all welcomed its end with open arms, didn’t we? North Korea-US tensions, Brexit, trade wars, whispers of World War Three. Women still fighting for equality, exposing men who deserved to be exposed. Climate change worsening while Australia—my home away from home—burned. Animals, innocent and helpless, lost. And Trump. Just the name alone still sends a shiver down my spine. How did we, in the most advanced era of humanity, actually let him become president? If I could wish for anything, it would be for a world that’s kinder. One where love outweighs hate. Where people respect one another—our differences, our choices, our lives. I know that’s not the world we live in, but a girl can dream.

And then came January 26, 2020. I still can’t grasp it. The news of Kobe Bryant and GiGi’s passing. The way the entire world just… stopped. It was the kind of devastation that sits heavy in your chest, like a weight you can’t shake. It didn’t matter if we knew him personally—we felt it. Because that’s what humanity does. We feel. We mourn people we’ve never met because, in some way, their lives touched ours.

I think about my childhood, how much I loved basketball. Soccer was my first love (European roots, after all), but basketball was right there with it. How we’d yell “KOBE!” when tossing a paper ball into the trash. I hadn’t thought about that in years, but seeing that video of a gym teacher passing on the tradition? It hit hard. Moments like this remind us how fragile life is. How quickly things can change. How the people we love can be here one second and gone the next. It makes me want to hold my people closer, tell them I love them more, let go of the petty things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of it all. Because at the end of the day, we don’t know how much time we have.

Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. This one hits home. Mental health isn’t something we talk about enough, even though 1 in 5 people struggle with it. Even though thousands of people in Canada alone lose their battle with it every year. If today is about anything, it’s about talking. It’s about reminding people that they’re not alone. That whatever weight they’re carrying, they don’t have to carry it by themselves. And if you’re reading this—I mean you, too. Life gets heavy. It does. But you don’t have to bear it in silence. Talk to someone. Let it out. Cry, scream, ask for help. There’s no shame in needing people.

And to all of us? Let’s be kind. Let’s be the person someone else can lean on. Let’s make the world a little softer, a little brighter. Because we never know what someone is going through, and sometimes, a little kindness is all it takes to change everything. There is so much in this life to love. Family. Friends. Our fur babies. Laughter. Passion. Love itself. Remember those things when the world feels dark. Because the people who passed away yesterday? They had plans for today. They might not have gotten to say “I love you” one last time. They might not have had the chance to do something they adored one final time.

So let’s live for them. Let’s cherish what we have while we have it. Let’s let go of grudges, drop the negativity, and love fiercely. Say the things we need to say. Apologise when we’re wrong. Forgive when we can. And above all else—be kind. Always. Because life’s too short not to be.

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” — Lao Tzu

Peace & love, always. xoxo

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