Today marks my arrival in a new room — and a small but meaningful win. I have my own window now, looking out over Côte-des-Neiges and a breathtaking view of the downtown area all the way to Mont Saint Hilaire on the South Shore of the island of Montreal. CDN is a busy street, and as I’m writing this (I asked my AI co-author to help draft this — I’m dictating — no glasses with me still, trying to spare my eyes, because today feels like a turning point.

There’s been a whole drama outside: an STM accordion bus, paramedics, fire trucks, people in red warming blankets, tow trucks. It’s a whole scene. But none of it involves me. I’m inside my room, calm, grounded, and quietly amused, just observing it all.

I wanted to mark the move with this post because today actually feels like a turning point.

My day’s been full of little confirmations and some interactions with a few open-minded staff members. Like K — who bent the rules and handed me my phone a whole five minutes early at 3:25 (gasp! scandal! lol). He didn’t just glance at the light-effect photos I’ve been capturing since March — he leaned in, asked intelligent questions, and reacted with real amazement. Instead of the usual “yeah sure, lens flare” or “what am I even looking at?”, he was receptive when I explained it as an example of quantum electrodynamics. Finally, someone who didn’t brush it off, but met it with curiosity. 🙌

Later, while on the phone with my stepfather who talked to me in glowing terms about Stella and bless his heart is incredibly open minded too, the light followed me out of my room and into the hallway. That’s when I snapped the shot below. The one with the peace sign is my favourite from a bunch a captured with the same light effect — it sums up my mood today: lighthearted, strong, and quietly claiming my space.

So this is my minimal-effort blog post — really just a snapshot of where I’m at today. A new room. A window. A view. Some drama outside the window, but a surprising amount of peace on the inside.