Magical moments in Melbourne
A string of serendipities I had to show on Substack
The line of people curled around what must have been an octagonal-shaped building because each time I turned the corner to join the queue, I saw more people snaking yet around another wall.
I had just gotten off a nine-hour red eye. Eleven if you count the hours that bookended the flight. One was spent waiting in the Hong Kong tarmac, to the very visible frustration of the dude sitting next to me. The other was in Melbourne, which I figured was a crowd control measure because there were so many people stuck in the finite space between the planes and immigration.
“The passport readers are broken!” yelled the border control officers. “Please don’t waste your time trying the machines out. You’ll lose your spot in the line.”
Ah, so that’s the culprit. I texted
, who was waiting giddily for my arrival.“Out of all the days!” she replied. The other passengers waiting with me seem to echo the sentiment, “This never happens!”
At least this will be the worst part of the trip, I thought. It’s all uphill from here.
A string of serendipities
When something happens a few times in a row, I pay attention to it. Therapy appeared in my life many times when I decided to listen to the universe and go for it. Either that or BetterHelp has utterly dominated the podcast market. I don’t try to extrapolate these subtle signs from the universe unnecessarily, but it’s hard to ignore a flashing light when I see it repeatedly.
Maybe the propagator was me. Maybe it’s brain priming, like when I started seeing fountain pens everywhere when I started using them. Or maybe it truly is a message from the universe and what I’m doing is connecting the dots backwards, per a quote from Steve Jobs.
Either way, these are some wild coincidences that happened over my eight days in Melbourne:
Bumping into artists I follow online. Nat and I were walking down the Shrine of Remembrance when we spotted two people painting on their Cup Easels. We walked over and I recognized Linden Li from his round-brim sun hat. I thought I was in the wrong city since I’m pretty sure Linden is based in Sydney. (I may or may not follow his work very closely). The friend that was with him was Kircy Jong, whom I also follow online. I asked if they were from Warrior Painters. Rather than being accused as a creep (thank goodness), they invited me to join them plein air painting the next day in the Royal Botanical Gardens. I came the following morning with my art books and they gifted me two original sketches in return. As Kircy said in her post, fate really made an effort.
Can I have some magic? I was pretty sleep deprived after the red-eye, so I wanted a double-shot coffee with a dash of milk. Nat told me that if I opted for a double ristretto and some steamed milk, it’s called magic. I ordered it a few times throughout the trip just so I could say “Can I have some magic?”.
No line for Lune. I heard their croissants can ruin every other pastry experience in my life. To just stroll into the bakery without having to line up was close enough to it being a miracle.
A Fran Lebowitz essay collection. Hong Kong book stores don’t stock a lot of English paperbacks that aren’t already bestsellers, so I had to assert an immense amount of self control during a trip to Readings. I have been writing essays for a year now, so I was keen to explore what a collection of essays from professionals would look like. After an hour of browsing—and a stubborn insistence to discover essay collections “organically” in the store instead of asking the staff—I encountered The Fran Lebowitz Reader. I walked out with her witty prose.
Meeting Joan Nestle. During one of our countless coffee shop visits, Nat talked about Joan Nestle, who introduces herself as “an 83-year-old fem lesbian woman”. Up til that point, I had never met queer people that were not of my generation before, let alone a lesbian that is much ahead of me in life. I only knew of my friends who are fighting the same fight I am. I started tearing up. Nat asked Joan if she was free in the next few days. We visited her house a few days later. I gave her my art book, she gave me her book, which happened to be—wait for it—an essay collection. Joan also had out an anthology of Australian fiction that featured Nat’s story. We traded autographs across her beige dining table.
The weather was beautiful and sunny half the time. I was told this was rare.
The perfect pair of jeans. I’ve been losing some weight from increased exercise but still maintained some of my muscle, which makes shopping for pants a hassle. Everything needs to be tailored, so I didn’t expect denim to be the exception. Except that it was at Rolla’s.
Meeting a WOP-er. More specifically, I met Hannah Gibson, whom I got matched with in one of the Write of Passage breakout rooms. I gave her my art book (it’s my new schtick) and she gave me a walking tour of one of Melbourne’s artsiest neighborhoods.
Joan spotted Hannah. I received an email today from Joan that she and her partner spotted “a young woman sitting behind us [who] had your book opened before her. This is when I think like trees we have subterranean connecting roots.”
I could very much look and hyperanalyze more of such coincidences, as if I need to be more delusional that the eight days in Melbourne made me feel like I instantly belonged. As Nat told me this morning, Melbourne “will just coccoon you magic and the best people 🌷”. Her sister also said, about the very first coincidence: “Only in Melbourne. If it loves you, it moves the universe for you.”
Oh, for all of these to happen. Out of all the days!
Looking back: The Commonwealth of Australia was only established in 1901. I don’t know why I always assumed that it was as old as its colonizers European counterparts. Maybe it’s the architecture? The linkage with European history? I didn’t know the country was so young.
Update log:
📖 Reading The Algebra of Wealth (26% completed) by Scott Galloway.
💡 If my birthday project this year was an art book, I’m thinking next year would be a photo book… and then a photo exhibition for my 30th.
🛬 My friend
is keen on helping business create high-converting landing pages. Check out her portfolio here.📸 I shot sixteen rolls of film in Melbourne. I’m in love with at least half of them.
🍫 I watched Forrest Gump and got weirdly emotional? Is this why the movie is so good?
👠 Mean Girls the musical with Renee Rapp as Regina George was so good. I’m also living for Moana being a gay icon in the movie.
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This was such a lovely read Becky. Great way to start my day
What alchemy! Love it!!