I no longer doubt that I’m a writer.

Not one bit. I’ve been in Toronto now for three days. All I want to do is write. And take photos. And walk around, soaking up inspiration. And then write more. It keeps me up at night. It fills my notebooks. It convinces me, this is what I do, this is who I am. Take it, world!

So first up – those kids above? They’re my cousins Mina and David. And I’m so glad they exist. I’m so glad that other kids like them exist. Kids are able to be amazed at rivers, and they’ll quite willingly throw rocks in so I can photograph the splash, over and over. “What about THIS one? Ooh, or this one?” Kids remind me how to be joyful, and how to express it. And not to be afraid of that expression.

Their joyfulness is why I have hope.

This is why I think Earth Day is more than a ploy.

Here is Toronto, as experienced by me, over the last couple of days. I quite like these photos. I feel just so damn inspired here. The weather’s been great, but even today when it’s cold and windy I feel fantastic.

Burgers with Haya Finan, a longtime blog reader who I finally got to meet.

A funky bike riding guy somewhere on Bloor Street, and my fantastic bedhead.

Gill finds a new friend! And, I wanted to buy ALL these books. And so many more. OH god. I can’t wait for school to start this September.

Thanks to Shannon Ezzat for the suggestion to eat at Nazareth – Ethiopian food. This giant plate of food was 10$. That plus drinks was $16. Tip brought it to $20. What!!

At the Royal Ontario Museum – there is a hallway to nowhere! This is me going “Where does it go?” and being generally silly. And who doesn’t love feet shots?

That library is brutal, b’ye. (BAHAH that’s an architecture pun.)

So besides being some day celebrating, I dunno, the planet we live on, April 22 is my birthday. I will be turning twenty-eight. Tonight we’re going out to see Ani Difranco play! I am SO pumped for this. I saw her in Australia when I lived there, but her new album kicks serious butt. Here is a great song you oughta take some time to listen to. Go on.

I just wanna say, I’m so very grateful for:

• The boyfriend who waits for me to finish my blog post before we go on exploring the city. (Well, he was taking a nap, which he likes to do. He’s the chillest person I’ve ever met. It’s like he one day just decided stress was stupid, and kicked it out of the room.) He’s the guy I never thought I would ever be lucky enough to meet, so it continually blows my mind that he’s here in my life. (When I tell him things like this he says, “Oh god, don’t be getting all mushy!” But, whatever. I’ll get mushy if I wanna!) And he’s the guy who buys me a Lindt chocolate bunny that I don’t even notice him doing, even though I’m just one register over at the Shoppers Drug Mart.

• Other friends I’ve been able to spend time with here – Haya, Gill, Todd, Marlo. And the other millions of friendly spirits all around in this city, on street corners, on sidewalks, in parks. There is also a huge LGBT community here, and I love it. I love the rainbow of people all around – all the colours, all the languages, all the clothes. And I love the palpable feeling that power is building in the community of love and tolerance. There is a feeling that we will not be ignored.

• You the reader. I love what I’m doing with Dream Big Cape Breton – it excites me every single day! I’ve got notebooks FILLED with ideas. Partnerships coming up. More and more interviews and features being created all the time. And YOU are what makes it all possible. Thank you, thank you.

This trip to Toronto makes me feel like – I could live anywhere in the world. But I choose Cape Breton.

So watch out. Because that’s a pretty empowering feeling. And when a person gets empowered? They rock it.