favourite place.

seek solace
sanctuary
in the hidden place
. . .

-björk

While watching the quasi-romantic (500) Days of Summer with my girlfriend last night, the concept of the main character's favorite place came into note, and I began to think about this post. What constitutes a favorite place? Is it the most serene location you have ever visited? Might it be that place that never demands a picture since it's so ingrained in your heart and etched into your mind that you will always have it with you? Could it be a place where you leave important parts of yourself and when the mean reds and the terrible blues have got you feeling off you return there to feel whole again? Is there only one answer?

Years ago I would say my favorite place was the North Sea. I went there in 1994 with my family whilst visiting my brother, his first wife, and my at-the-time two year old niece, in Scotland. Every one of us wore warm clothing to fight off the cool August ocean breeze. There was something very remarkably beautiful about the beach in grey weather that touched me at my core. I haven't been out of the country since. I always liked mentioning it since I was always hoping to be more of the world traveler than I have been thus far. For me it offered an heir of sophistication that I whole-heartedly desired.

Being a writer I have found more than a few important places to venture. The blank page and clickable pen have been my frequent companions through all of the slopes, chasms, and hurdles along the way. At my darkest, I have wished for little more than a cup of coffee and a plate of French fries to go with my word flow following a meandering solo road trip with apropos music choices. In the daytime, whether struck with depression or after an intense argument it would more than likely be a park. There is something to be said for breathing in clean oxygen.

So, where does that leave me?

I have always enjoyed when a place acts as a character in literature, films, and TV. You sit back and watch how everything about a place can change since the people in it have been forever altered. The same is true of where I live right now. I used to visit this same apartment complex over the years. A friend of mine lived here with his former girlfriend. My mind holds a bevy of memories of the thoughts I would have to and from there, pulling off the main road and along the back streets, looking for parking in the lot, and leaving there late into the wee hours of night. Some reasonably unspeakable things happened in that apartment and the life that surrounded it all was very differently colored than the one I wear these days.

That has all been erased, or perhaps more appropriately taped over. Give a place new context, new energy, and its entire reality can change in kind. I live here now - a mere hundred some-odd feet from where my previous recollections found me. This is where I find my solace, my sanctuary, for now. We will move and we will bring that feeling with us. It's important to hold on to your favorite place in your heart and not expect it to be drawn fully from external things.