Hello From 2023

Dear Diary,

Between my last post and this one, a lot has elapsed. I voluntarily deleted my socials, restarted them for a year or two before they got hacked. It's left me feeling vulnerable in this lopsided internet age.

Oh! Later in 2020, I also relocated to London and landed a job between two lockdowns. Because of how friendless it was that winter, I opened the coffee shop and worked on Christmas Day. That remains a memory that still surprises me - I am grateful for how things have transformed since then.

I am sorry for the silence; though I would have remained silent if not for the fact that after a month of things going awry, I started to "lose my spark"... 

To which my friend Joanne replied:

So here I am, reviving this site as the path of least resistance to check in every day, post my creative 'work', process thoughts, share what I've learnt and really, behave like the internet isn't going to sabotage anyone again.

I present Laura In Her Place, a series I shot on film of an amazing friend I met in London. We were packing coffee beans in what used to be her home. A very fond memory and the first of many.

In the background there is a doodle made on ProCreate, which you'll see in its full glory right at the end of this post.

The light was streaming into her apartment on the thirteenth floor, and everything seemed to sing and be alive.

London really was the beginning of my being close to people of different ethnicities, understanding how differently we are wired, and finding common ground. 

I found words, foods and customs of indigenous cultures that coincided with ones on the other side of the world... like you wouldn't imagine! 

We share many core values pertaining to family, community, life and death; much of which have been painted over with this universal shade of slate, the gloss of a hyperconnected, built-up city epoch.

My move here has definitely made me appreciate what I grew up with, and the experiences I live now.

Tomorrow is a new beginning, so I'm wishing everyone a wonderful week! 

PS. Don't be a stranger :)