I had hoped to get this post out earlier in the summer so that those of you in Philly would have time to pop by and see this event for yourself if you didn’t already, but the blog got pretty crazy from my trip to Europe! It’s now the last week of August, but nevertheless, here it is!
The Waterfront Session at Spruce Street Harbor Park is a summer event every Thursday night, featuring live local music. I’m so glad that I popped by before the end of summer! I didn’t plan to, but I was hanging out with Victoria earlier in the day, and she invited me to tag along in the evening with her and Isabella. I love how I find my way to the city and how the city finds its way to me.
My heart overflows with love for this city. Of all the cities I’ve lived (LA, Beijing, and Philly), I feel most at home at Philly. I feel like I’ve made connections here, and not just with people from my school. I’m not afraid of traveling alone, and I’m not afraid of getting lost. I feel independent here, like I could have a life here after college. And for someone who has made some big moves in her life, this means a lot to me.
I gushed about it briefly in my post for Lokal Hotel (which I’m still obsessed with, for the record), but I didn’t really say anything specific about my love for this city. For some reason, I feel like it’s harder to write about the happy stuff. Because there’s not always one thing you can pinpoint as the reason for your happiness. It’s hard to write about something that’s so light and yet makes me feel so full. It’s hard to convey this feeling of content that somehow makes me feel like I’m bursting but also makes me feel so stable. If I could share my happiness with everyone, if I could just throw it at you to catch and keep, I would. (I’d probably also tuck some away for myself on a blue day.)
It’s my senior year of college, but I hope that this won’t be my last year in Philly. But even if it isn’t my last year in Philly, it will be my last year in Philly with all my friends from college, so there will be a lot to cherish. This coming school year, I hope not just to explore more of Philly, but to explore Philly with the special people in my life. I want more days with my friends, sitting in the park, waiting for the sunset. I don’t want to simply see more places, but I want to do more things. I want to seek citywide events and watch everyone come to life together, and to come to life with them.
I will document as much as I can–that has never been a problem for me. But the real challenge will be to live, live, live. Not to float on by. Not to observe through a camera lens. Not to curate a better version of real life. But to be wide-eyed. To see what’s in front of me, not when it’s gone but now, here, as it is. To be moved. To move. To give without thinking about what I should get back. To have no capacity to what I can give. To give the things you cannot touch. My love, my laughter, my energy. So that by the time it comes for us to leave and take our hearts with us, you might find pieces of our hearts left in all the places we’ve been. It really is The City of Brotherly Love.