The mirror to the city

Mirror, mirror on a (very large) wall
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If the eyes are the mirror to the soul, then some particularly reflective buildings may be seen as the windows to the communities that surround them.

So as I walked past One London Place (again) and stopped to stare (again), it should surprise no one that I took a picture (again) to remember a particularly unique moment in the life of a highly familiar structure in my little burg.

I had decided to take a lunchtime walk. I do that often - get up from my keyboard and head outside so I can stare at distant objects and unplug from the attention-killing grid that. I'd like to think it makes my writing better, but I think it feeds my soul a little bit, too. And even though I often walk through a downtown neighborhood that feels like it's spiralling out of control, I realize there's beauty and inspiration even in the most challenging of landscapes.

There indeed was some beauty to be had on this windy day. I just had to look up a bit, away from the street-level plane where the lives of countless people play out shoulder-to-shoulder, across a spectrum of experience ranging from ostentatiously successful suit-wearers in illegally-parked luxury cars to to tragically vulnerable people in the shadows of an abandoned store's entryway. The sky was putting on a show, reflected in the mirrored glass that's been witness to countless stories both above and below. It wouldn't solve the day-to-day tragedies playing out on the street below, of course. But it might offer a small, temporary diversion.

As I composed the shot, I attracted more than a few stares from the strangers around me, some of them turning skyward they tried to figure out what I was up to. Maybe I'm not the only one trying to find inspiration. Maybe I'm not the only one trying to see this city through a different lens.

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