Beauty in the Ordinary

Sezane cardigan
Muji t-shirt (similar)
Zara jeans (similar)
Rouje boots (similar)
Vintage handbag (similar)
RayBan sunglasses
Aurate NY bracelet (c/o)
Linjer rings (c/o) (similar)
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: The Exchange District – Winnipeg, Manitoba

If I’d had a choice, Winnipeg is not where I would have spent fourteen months (and counting) of a global pandemic. We moved back to my hometown, a decidedly ordinary place in the centre of Canada with little to specifically recommend it beyond the low cost of living, so that we could travel more.

…obviously, that didn’t quite turn out the way we planned.

But we’ve made the best of it, because misery is the other option and while I love a good sarcastic joke or complaint, my approach to life is, in generally, positive. One of my colleagues affectionately calls me Jiminy Cricket because I can always offer an alternative perspective that shows how some good will ultimately come from any dismal situation. That doesn’t mean I don’t get frustrated or annoyed or sometimes want to tear my hair out – I definitely do. But I’d rather find a way to be happy than to stay stuck there.

So I’ve found ways to be happy with the ordinary place we call home. And to see the beauty in it. Because there is, and always has been, beauty in it. You have to look for it, and in some neighbourhoods, no matter where you look, you won’t find it. But it’s here. It’s not even that hard to stumble upon, particularly in places like the Exchange District. Which is why I’m always surprised when someone reaches out to me, as another person did last week, and says, “I can’t believe you take all your photos here in Winnipeg.”

Where else would I take them? This ordinary place is home and home is where we’ve all be stuck for more than a year now. If I could magically transport myself to Paris or New York just for photos, there’s no doubt I would… but I’m not actually Jiminy Cricket, that’s just a nickname. I don’t have magic powers (although some days they would really come in handy.) I just know that if you know how to look for it, you can find some beauty, somewhere, in any place, no matter how regular it is.

The truth is, there are lots of ordinary places in Paris, too. Ordinary in France looks a bit different than ordinary in Canada, but the principle remains the same. I think you could even argue that it’s ordinary places that make us appreciate beauty all the more. After all, would we even be able to recognise beauty if there were no contrast, nothing for it to distinguish itself from? We’ll never really know, since we live in a world full of stark, sometimes startling, contrasts, but the question is worthy of contemplation.

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