Keep looking up

Be a tourist, no matter where you are.

It is said you can always tell who is a tourist and who is a local by the fact that tourists are always looking up and all around at all the new sights, while locals, used to their environment, keep their heads down on their way to their destinations. I think that is a pretty accurate truism.

But I also try to go against that tide every chance I get. Being a tourist in your hometown is simply good for your spirit and I have to believe for others as well. When I hold my head up and look around, I remind myself of why I fell in love with Toronto. If I hadn't looked up while I was here in the past, I wouldn't have had the deep well of memories of the city that sustained me when I was in my immigration struggle. The fact is, if I hadn't always looked up in Seattle, I wouldn't have the memories I have now that help combat homesickness as I adjust to living in Canada.

When you hold your head up, you can see so much; the variety of architecture, the cafe where that fresh bread smell is coming from, the queue at every Tim Hortons, the faces of your neighbours, the clouds rushing by, the sun reflecting off an office tower, the new construction, the ads for upcoming community events. You'd miss a lot if you kept your head down. I don't want to miss a thing.

If you are new to Canada, you're going to look up naturally at first - just a like a tourist; it's how you learn about your new home. I want to encourage you to never stop looking up - it's the surest way to connect completely with your new home. A year and a half in and I find myself wanting to put my head down like a local - but I pull it back up, and I'm always glad that I do.

If you are still waiting to come to Canada, I also want to encourage you to lift your head and look around as you go about your day. Fill you mind and heart with your original home - believe me, it will help to sustain you.

Keep looking up and you'll always be connected to where you live.