Home Is Where The Heart Is: A Solo Concert Trip To See Jessie Reyez

There’s always something wild and brave about taking a trip by yourself — especially to a city you once called home. It’s not just a place or a memory with a skyline. It's more of a story you once lived inside and a version of you still unwritten.

Going back always feels like unlocking a time capsule with my own hands. The streets still carry the ghosts of my younger laughter and the late-night chaos we caused without a care in the world. Not as a menace or an intruder; but as someone full of love and excitement; this city still makes me feel at home.

My trip wasn’t planned for any reason. Just a simple: brb, going to see our girl, Jessie Reyez. The woman who sings with a trembling honesty that makes you feel brave enough to feel your own truth again, and that’s the thing about life.

Our quiet choices end up being the ones that change you. The "why not?" moments and the “I’ll just go alone” moments; they end with you meeting a version of yourself you didn’t realize was starving to live again.

Travelling Alone = Liberation

Traveling solo is love in its own language. A dialogue of courage and trust, and it teaches you to choose yourself without needing a reason and to move with intention instead of expectation.

Maybe I’m used to it because I’ve been doing this since I was a teen. Sneaking through cities, discovering myself in shops, on trains, all over in places where nobody knew my name. That restless, fearless habit of wandering alone then, has prepared me for now, and for a life where being alone doesn’t feel lonely but where freedom feels dangerous and sacred all at once.

On the train ride in, I realized something; I was really traveling to see me. The me who grew up here. The me who survived here. The me who left in search of something bigger. The me who forgot that being myself — wildly and unapologetically — is the most spiritual thing I could ever do, because the truth is that life now is curated. Everything’s accessible, aesthetic, filtered, bite-sized and performance-ready.

Somewhere in all that convenience, being human is becoming endangered. Traveling alone gives you back your humanity. Your real, unedited, unfiltered, imperfect humanity. The kind you don’t post online and the kind that belongs only to you.

Here’s the dangerous part that no one talks enough about; once you taste that kind of freedom, you realize you don’t need anyone to live, or to explore, or to choose, or to feel whole. All you need is trust.

Trust in your voice and in your instinct and defiantly in the way your heart leans toward the things that feel like truth because the wild, beautiful secret; is when you truly know yourself and love every version of who you are, people are drawn to that energy you carry and the love you radiate. That's the inner aura you expel that can’t be faked.

That’s human connection; not avoiding the hard conversations with yourself or lower yourself for those who can’t meet you on a deeper level. Collectively celebrating the ones who can and honoring the ones who can’t. You don’t have to settle for a life less than you see for yourself, and that’s more than okay — it’s everything to launch you further.

Jessie Reyez Nights Hit Different

Seeing Jessie LIVE in concert was more soul-cleansing than I expected. She is a spiritual exfoliation. A truth-telling ritual under stage lights and stars. She doesn’t perform, she purges. She tells the truth even when her voice cracks, like the world deserves honesty. She jokes like healing is allowed to be messy. She sings like her heart remembers every bruise as well as every bloom it’s ever held.

Her shows feel like therapy disguised as chaos and that's one of her three rules; to leave better than you came. Like a hug from someone who’s seen every version of you and doesn’t flinch.

Friday night, something shifted in me. Not even dramatically because I've been through a lot of massive shifts within the last few years that have already brought me to liberation, but this just felt freeing in a way I'll try to explain.

She said things that hit every version of me all at once, and watching her dance with her father reminded me how lucky I am to have a relationship like that with mine.

Her words and her actions continuously take root. I don’t say this as a celebrity-obsessed fan, though she’s undeniably captivating; but from witnessing her grace live, seeing her grow through Toronto over the last decade, and watching the way she stands up for not only herself, but for women, victims of violence, musicians without support, and for the causes she believes in without caution to some it may upset. It’s a heart you can hear in her voice, a love for family she keeps so close and a presence that truly touches everyone.

We All Left That Concert a Little More Healed

Everyone who walked into that venue carried something silent. A heartbreak they didn’t talk about or a fear they pretend they don’t feel. Even to those who were dragged there as a plus one, holds a memory that still stings and somehow, by the time we all walked out, the air felt clearer. The energy felt lifted and 2,000+ strangers felt connected.

That’s the magic of Jessie being home in the heart of Toronto's diversity — you arrive as individuals, but you all leave as frequencies. Aligned and one breath closer to who you were always meant to become. Healing doesn’t always have to be loud. Sometimes it whispers and hums. Sometimes the wind cries Mary* and shows up in the form of a song that your soul needed more than you knew.

Trust, Boundaries, and the Love You Deserve

Like Jessie, surface-level connection has never been enough for me. To love deeply, fully and fiercely is a gift that some people just aren’t ready for. She teaches us that intensity is where love and passion live, and where respect naturally coincides.

Sometimes, relationships fail. The reality is sometimes it's toxic; they manipulate, swear up and down they’ll change, and they don’t. You forgive them but they never really show up in the ways when it matters and sometimes it's hard to admit that the world is now full of fake love, fake happiness, and hollow gestures that don't actually matter in real life, and that’s okay.

It’s okay not to connect with bare minimum love, the ones that only see the value when it matters to the world instead of meeting their true selves and it's okay to genuinely want more for yourself. The love you have for yourself; that wild, unapologetic, sacred love — is meant to be shared with someone who can meet your depth. So it’s okay to walk away and recognize that you deserve more or to keep yourself hidden for awhile. Letting some people stay in lives they know they don't want and pretend everyday — when life is meant to be more passionately lived. Romance is meant to be natural, giving, and honoring.

Romanticize the hell out of yourself until someone shows up who feels natural with your energy. Love your glow. Express your freedom. Protect your heart and fill yourself with so much life that anything or anyone who isn’t aligned simply falls away. When you honor yourself, the universe somehow aligns too — showing up with exactly what you deserve.

The ones who plan date nights every other weekend (or weekdays, time is time). They intentionally carve out moments just for you, making sure you feel seen, connected, and reminded that you’re chosen. Not with the kids, family, or distractions (those are part of everyday life), but completely for the two of you to get lost in each other. With the right people, it should feel effortless, intentional, and magnetic — not performative, transactional, or just part of the daily routine and responsibilities, but something truly magical, like a sacred secret.

That’s the kind of true romance worth waiting for.

Some Journeys Are Meant to Be Taken Alone

There’s a myth that adventure feels better with company; that loneliness means failure and that independence means isolation but some roads are meant for your feet only.

Walking around Toronto by myself reminded me how freeing it is to move without checking in, comparing plans, or adjusting my pace. I wandered block by block, following nothing but instinct — the familiarity of the streets pulling me back and the new corners pulling me forward. Passing by where the Edge once sat, at 13 I couldn’t help but think about how cool radio felt back then, and now, actually being a radio personality, I could whisper to my younger self; we made it.

Every step took me somewhere I’d never been, even if the city looked familiar, because I'm not the same. Travel alone long enough and you realize something profound: you are not missing your people but you are meeting yourself; and with meeting yourself deeply, you begin to recognize the beauty in every version of who you’ve been. You start to glow differently, and people gravitate to those energies.

That’s real human connection — it comes after meeting yourself. Not lowering yourself for those who can’t meet you on a deeper level, but celebrating the ones who can, and honoring the ones who can’t. Teaching others they can rise to meet you instead. You don’t have to settle and that’s more than okay — it’s everything to lean you forward.

**CUDN'T B A CARBON COPY**

In a world obsessed with replication, originality actually becomes rebellion. One of my favorite words. We’re asked to fit in, to shrink, to brand ourselves or to be palatable, and predictable; but you are not meant to be digestible.

You are not meant to be an algorithm-friendly version of yourself. You are not meant to be consumed, but more so felt.

Jessie reminds us of that. We can be loud if that’s our truth, we can be soft if that’s our nature and we can be complicated, emotional, unpredictable, too much, not enough for the wrong people, and exactly ourselves for the right ones. Being yourself in a world that wants your carbon copy, is the most spiritual thing you can do.

The Science of Trust, Respect & Real Connection

Real connection isn’t just rumor, there’s actual psychology behind what makes relationships deeply meaningful, and what makes people truly trustworthy.

Research shows that trust in relationships often comes down to three fundamentals: ability (doing what you say you will do), integrity (being honest and transparent), and benevolence (genuine care for the other’s well-being). When partners consistently show up with those traits, they build a foundation strong enough to weather storms. Psychological studies show that people who are emotionally intelligent are more likely to build high-trust bonds. They repair trust when it breaks, communicate openly, listen, show empathy and know when to walk away if respect or reciprocity fades.

Trust and respect are more than pretty ideas. They are biological and psychological anchors to real intimacy and family, rooted in honesty, care, and consistent truth. When relationships are built on those pillars honestly, that is when love and passion can truly co-exist.

Why Fun, Play & Joy Matter More Than We Think

Fun isn’t just an excuse to escape. It fuels success. When you let yourself laugh, wander, or get lost in music or motion and just be playful — your brain rewires. I've always taught you that pleasure releases dopamine. That's the feel-good chemical that makes you look at life openly, curiously and more alive.

Leisure, joy, and creative play actually feed mental clarity, improve emotional resilience, and boost creativity and problem-solving. Look back at a night on the town and ask youself if you remember that glow afterwards, almost like a freeing weight lifted off your shoulder.

So when you allow yourself to have fun — whether it’s wandering the city alone, or laughing with a friend, you’re doing more than enjoying yourself. You’re healing; becoming sharper and stronger. That liveliness becomes part of your energy. The kind people recognize, are drawn to, trust, and respect.

Letting Go, Coming Back & Becoming

Solo trips give you a front-row seat to your own becoming. They strip away the noise. They remind you what your heart sounds like without the world shouting over it. On the train ride home, I felt something Jessie has been saying for years: you can always return to yourself.

Even after you lose track or a little light inside you has dimmed. Even after you forget your own voice or play the role the world handed you instead of the one your soul wrote for you.

Self-return is an act of courage and every journey, whether it’s across cities or across your own mind; brings you closer to the person you were born to be.

The Power of Knowing Your Love Is Forever

Your love doesn’t disappear simply because life changes shape.

Your love is not temporary.

Your love is not fragile.

Your love is not conditional.

Your love is your legacy.

The people who truly love you, love you exactly as you already are, not the version you pretend to be, or the version you shrink into, or the version you polish for the world. Real love, the kind Jessie sings about, lets you grow. It doesn't have control or tracking. It lets you outgrow, walk away, or walk back and walk forward without losing yourself. It let's you see things via clarity and acceptance for what they are, instead of what you want them to be.

The Adventures Continue

This trip reminded me that life isn’t linear. As we know; it twists, spirals, loops, dances, breaks and rebuilds. It moves like music; unpredictable, emotional and rhythmic. Every step is a new place. Every choice creates a new path. Every moment is shaping who you’re becoming. If you’re looking for a sign to go somewhere alone; this is it.

Book the event.

Take the train.

Walk the streets.

See the people who make you feel seen.

Sit with your thoughts.

Let life introduce you to yourself again.

Some trips change your view, but solo trips change your soul; and in the words of Jessie, “You’re not lost. You’re learning.”

Here’s to the girl who left. The woman who returned, and the soul who keeps rising into herself again, and again, and again. You’re allowed to be all of them, and you’re allowed to begin again.