The 20s Are Funny | I left my {broken} heart in San Francisco
Hello dear readers,
I’ve missed writing to you. Of finding my soft place to land on this light pink page. Of finding the beauty and feeling. it. all.
Much has transpired since the last time a letter from The Sticker Suitcase appeared in your inbox. Our world is undoubtedly a heavy place right now. Protests are popping up across our college campuses, including my own former campus home. It’s harrowing to read just about anything in the news right now - the sheer magnitude of pain happening around the world. I still feel like I’m holding my breath.
As with many aspects of this wild and precious life, pain presented itself with a personal edge to it as well. If April is known as the month of ‘April showers to bring May flowers’, then it’s just as true to hold the quippy phrase ‘when it rains - it pours’ in parallel. April challenged me professionally. April challenged the health of my family puppy (who as of writing this is doing very well). April set my heart to be shattered by a dear friend I’ve known for eight years - who I traversed the city of San Francisco with on a delightfully fun spring break trip in our college days - forgetting to tell me she got engaged while finding the time to broadcast it in multiple pockets of her social media world.
Words help me name the pain. Lyrics have always found a way into the fiber of my being, striking just the right chords in the symphony of my soul. Taylor Swift’s latest album features one such song - a particularly poignant piece that paints a portrait of a woman holding her sadness while sharing her creativity and artistry with the world. I may not have the world platform that Taylor does, but I - as I can only imagine so many others too - know the tightrope she traverses All Too Well (a little nod to any fellow “Swiftes” in this community 😊)
I cry a lot but I am so productive // It’s an art
You know you’re good when you can even do it with a broken heart
I landed in San Francisco with sunshine greeting my arrival. The romantic in me was waiting to hear the streets of San Francisco come alive to Tony Bennett’s beloved song I left my heart in San Francisco. The streets didn’t sing (this time), but my soul did.
It is both the plight and privilege of the solo traveler to march to the beat of her own drum. To listen to the internal cues calling her and let the conductor create a symphony. To chart her course while seeing the city as a her canvas in which to create a work of art.
The few set plans for this post-birthday-getaway felt like comforting anchors - the familiar notes in this tune. San Francisco and I have crossed paths a few times - each in the company of family, or one to two friends. San Francisco solo became a different city to me.
I fumbled, I’ll be the first to admit. My commitment to creating The Sticker Suitcase is a place where travel is celebrated and commemorated - along with the very real recognition that travel includes challenges. I called the Muni train by the wrong name. Then went in entirely in the wrong direction, mercifully for only one stop. I was woefully unprepared for the Bay Area weather and found myself seeking the first pink sweatpants I could find. I lost the chance - twice - to capture a photo with my dear friend who also was visiting town. Stomach pain at 4:30am one morning prevented me from attending a full gathering of friends I was eagerly anticipating. And perhaps most profound in the homage to this publication’s name - I didn’t come home with a sticker for my suitcase.
Without a piece of San Francisco making itself at home on my Sticker Suitcase, I instead have the collection of photos and memories that will stick with me. The joy of seeing a local play very spontaneously and watching a former colleague-turned-friend share his passion for performing with the audience. The life lessons learned from The Defining Decade - a book that greeted me my first evening in the city and that I eagerly finished over the span of my visit. And the kindness of one cable car operator spending the whole ride talking me on a rainy Saturday morning.
Parting is such sweet sorrow, San Francisco.
When I come home to you, San Francisco
Your golden sun will shine for me
Travel often, and add a sticker to your suitcase.🧳
With gratitude, Katie