The Cities We Carry

We carry our cities with us — in the pace we expect from life, the kinds of beauty we notice and the kinds we overlook. And we spend our lives, consciously or not, searching for the places that feel most like us.

This session is an exploration of cities as lived experience — not as destinations on a map, but as forces that shape who we are, what we value, and who we become.

Together, we will reflect on the cities that have marked us, the cities we dream of, and what our answers reveal about the lives we are quietly building.

As a guide for our conversation, we will explore:

1. Does the city you grew up in still live inside you? In what ways has it shaped how you think, move through the world, or relate to others?

2. If you could design your perfect city from scratch — not just amenities, but its rhythm, its culture, its relationship to beauty and nature — what would it look like? What does your answer reveal about your values?

3. Every great city has a personality — Paris is one thing, Tokyo another, New York another still. What do you think a city's character is made of? Architecture? History? The people? Something harder to name? Please pick one aspect and share your idea.

4. Tell us about a specific moment in a city — a street corner, a café, a view — that stopped you in your tracks and made you feel, even briefly, that life was exactly as it should be. Where were you, and what made that moment possible?

For this gathering, each member is warmly invited to bring a photo of a city (saved on a cellphone or other device would work) that has meant something to them — the place you grew up, a city that changed you, or one you have never visited but feel inexplicably drawn to. It need not be the most beautiful city you have seen. It need only be one that left a mark.

I look forward to travelling, together, without leaving the room.

📍 Where: Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, 4th Floor, L4 North (492) Meeting Room