The Places That Wait For You: Of Cities, Soulmates, & Self-Discovery

Do you ever feel drawn to a particular place, city or country? Like a vivid yet strong attraction to a site, one that feels like it's calling you there, as if there is an invisible string that interweaves you with its essence. Often, when we visit a particular place, we see glimpses of a particular city, and we feel a connection to that place.

Like we belong, a part of us or our destiny is written in that spot. Some people just feel drawn to it, like no particular logic, or reason or pragmatic consonance, just our intuition and soul being called to its home. Even if it is far, it is a song that whispers about the city we might belong to; it is a sign, a sign from the universe that a part of your story is destined to be written there.

Transcendental transit

I have read somewhere that if a city or a country is luring you to its essence, if it is embellishing your spirit in the unrelenting urge to pack your bags right away and flee to your dream sight, it means someone there is waiting for you. Doesn't it sound magical, a bit whimsical and hopeful at the same time?

Like, there is an invisible thread of red fate that is pulling you closer to the city, little by little? It is the unravelling of your tale, the yarn of your existential stride, that is being written already, and maybe you have not reached that chapter yet. But there is some divine force that is pulling you closer to where you are meant to be.

Maybe there is a person you will meet who will be the love of your life, maybe it is the stranger that will become your best friend, maybe you will be the changing tide for someone or maybe you will meet a version of you that will make you fall in love with yourself, all of which will exist only there, the place where you are called to be found in a whole new light.

And the cities that exist in their luminescence are not just random specs on the map; they are beings that have a soul. And maybe they at times call out to ours, to fulfil our timeline and to embrace what is truly ours. The ecstasy that we feel, the joy that our heart feels thinking about a particular place in the randomness of the mundane days, is not random at all.

There is bliss in knowing that our soul somehow knows where it truly lies in the myriad of anomalies that exist, that maybe there is chaos and uncertainty in our present existential banes, but somewhere deep within the crevices of our skin, we know where we are meant to go.

Destiny in wanderlust

Sometimes I dream of walking across random streets, having coffee and my favourite snack while wearing winter clothes, sitting in a cafe on a wintery morning. Where the sun is thawing the ice, the rays of sunlight feel light on the skin as the trees smile through the reflection of melting snowdrops. Who knows, maybe I am truly destined for Norway!

I feel called to explore every city in the beautiful country of Norway, to witness the grandeur of northern lights, to imbibe the sun that never sets during summer and to dive deeper into the ancient histories of the country. The feeling that I experience is called Saudade. A yearning for something that I never had or experienced, and somehow it belongs to me, like the answered call of my prayers or a yarn already written in my stars.

So if a place truly calls you, like it is screaming your name in the silent dreams under the realms of sleep, it is where you truly belong. Maybe where you currently reside is not where your story truly meets its blossoming ride; maybe it is somewhere in a faraway land waiting, smiling at you, knowing your paths will cross soon.

Authored by Hridya Sharma. Views expressed are the author's own.