A Note from Canada

I had not been writing 

And this is usually a sign of either deep process or tiredness

So, what I never expected was that the flow would come back to me at a time that I most needed clarity and to be centred.

It came from my need to let you know of the most incredible gifts I have received within my trip to Canada 

These will be a series that may come to you as a flow of three or maybe have gaps between - I have not decided 

Today you get the first and this is a connection piece.

One that brings the essence of what I do to downtown Toronto ...

As you may have guessed, I love to write and my hope is that the flow of words I form reaches the hearts of those who need them. 

The piece I wrote recently referring to the tohu (sign) I received in the form of a wax eye was released when I had already undertaken its advice and was here on Canadian soil.

The responses I receive are often timely for me to hear and the following one landed in perfect timing from Canada

“As always your words touch me. My time on Waiheke each year nourishes me.  With Canada my home , I'm honoured and excited that you will be part of my other space.  Welcome”

I replied straight away and what resulted was an invitation to meet in person.

And so we did.

This then turned out to be an evening with Lorna that will be a treasure for the rest of my days.

An invite to her home and a meal resulted in an evening of touchstones across the world.

It was skimming stones from shoreline to shoreline. Multiple light touches on joint memories and people. Before each sentence sank into the pool of collective memory.

Knowing that my writings were a treasured and warmly received entity showed me why I write. In real time I was  having the invisible thread eliminated between us. I was experiencing  the connective threads forming into the something I needed to have gifted and held.

Highlights and intersects kept coming and the most gleeful was when her neighbour let herself in and Lorna explained that I was Timmy the writer of the pieces she passes on to her. 

The joy and surprise on Nancy’s face sent shivers and warmth through me and then she said a sentence that floored me even further.

“So nice to meet you Timmy, I’ve been in your store and loved it.”

The condo felt electric and I thing I may have hugged her as the shock of the level of connection in the room had sent me into overwhelm.

The power of the word.

The power of people stepping forward with words and the importance of telling those who touch you their impact.

It was funny as I do know Lorna from her visits and conversation we have had over the past 10 years but they were firmly interwoven in the framework of my store.

And when she used to say she was going home my mind didn’t fully grasp this beautiful concept of living within two countries with such grace and integration 

And I always felt she was merely meaning she was returning to her home on the island as she had interwoven herself within community and Piritahi Marae.

This beautiful woman had been coming to my spaces since I opened my first 2016.

She showed me her building and its roof top garden. She guided me through her neighbourhood and we landed at a favourite Mexican restaurant.

We ate as well as our conversation flowed and I felt a forever friendship blossom in that warm Toronto evening.

We walked back to her home mostly hand in hand and I got to speak of my mum and we realised they would have possibly become friends if their paths had crossed.

Lorna’s 78 years were crafted into the lightest of cloaks that she wore with standing and experience.

Her revealing the weave of work and travel, of friends from across the world showed us the detail of recent years.

So thank you Lorna for your welcome to your lands. And for being the catalyst for the most incredible thread of connection of care and sparking a new level of inspiration and knowing.

You gifted me so much that night and I am so looking forward to seeing you on our shores once more. Where I will unwrap your gift of further time together.

My words 

Your care

My heart

Timmy x