“They paved paradise to put up a parking lot”

It was my all time favorite place to journal. Journaling was my only way of staying in touch with myself. I couldn’t go a day without it. I would walk there every morning. The atmosphere, the color scheme, the architecture, the workers, the music they played, the coffee, the little fresh pastries, everything about this cafe I loved. 

Now it was gone. It was gone to an expanded parking lot.

“Don’t it always seem to go

That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone”

My brother moved out for college a week earlier. I was still letting this all sink in. It felt like I was losing control of my life.

Another week went by, and I decided to start taking control of the things I could take control of. I decided to move, find a new place to call my home. I was sure I could find another journaling spot somewhere else. The world was a beautiful place after all.

I started my engine and drove towards a new city just to start scanning the area.

That’s when a sign caught my attention. It read “Mystic Canyon.” How had I never seen this before? It was right on the edge of the city.

I was too curious to pass it by, so I decided to check it out.

I parked my car in a small dirt parking lot, and started walking towards the sign. The sign pointed me towards a path.

“You gotta see it to believe it

Sky never looked so blue

So hard to leave it”

This was it. This was definitely my new spot. The path led me to a small canyon with the most perfect surroundings.

It was incredible. I’d never seen anything like it before. The vibrant flowers, the small flowing stream of water across the imperfect jagged rocks on the ground, the perfect blue sky, it looked magical.

But was it possible for me to journal here? There weren’t any obvious places for me to sit, so I started scanning the boulders. One boulder immediately caught my eye. It was in the shape of a softened crescent moon that rested on its side. When I sat in it, I could see the tip of the rock through the top of my eyes. I called it my Canyon Moon. It was perfect.

And that was the story of how I found my new journaling spot. It’s the story this French cafe I’m currently journaling at reminds me of. And although I love traveling and finding new spots, nothing will beat my Canyon Moon.

“Carry the feeling

Through Paris, all through Rome

And I’m still thinking back to a time under the canyon moon”