For the past few years, especially, travelling and immersing myself in nature have been high on my list of priorities.

For some inexplicable reason, my heart has been tugging at me from all angles to explore new territories, set my sight on new landmarks, and calm my own frayed and fractured nervous system in the peace that encompasses the natural world.

Ever since I was young, I have felt a deep love for the East Coast. Each and every year until 2008 or 2009, my parents travelled with me to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, around the American Thanksgiving holiday season, to visit friends of theirs whom became like a second family and owned an Inn in a quaint little town called Brewster.

Although I was a bit too young to appreciate it as much back then, I have since come to love and cherish these places as an adult, and I regularly and voluntarily seek them out today.

Two years ago, I felt this sudden and intense desire to visit Nova Scotia, in Canada. I didn’t know why I felt so strongly about it, but the pull was such that I couldn’t seem to ignore it. Somehow, I just knew that I had to go there and possibly even consider living there one day.

So, last fall, I finally followed my hunch and booked a trip to Halifax for the first time, eager and willing to know what was calling me to Atlantic Canada and why.

While I was in Nova Scotia, I decided to take a three-and-a-half hour drive to Prince Edward Island (P.E.I) and head 40 minutes southwest of Halifax to a mystical place known today as Peggy’s Cove.

P.E.I (Prince Edward Island)

Having been a lifelong fan of the 1985 classic film “Anne of Green Gables,” by Lucy Maud Montgomery, I knew this was a landmark that I must see while I was so close to it—closer, in fact, than I’d ever been before.

I wanted to retrace the footsteps of the delightful fictional protagonist, Anne Shirley, a character with whom I feel a particularly strong emotional kinship.

Like Anne, I too am sensitive and idealistic. Like Anne, I too have a rich imagination and enjoy being in my own head. Like Anne, I too find myself in awe of the beauty that so often surrounds me. Like Anne, I too am a lover of books and poetry. And, sometimes, just like Anne herself, my own tendency to be emotionally raw and authentic sets me apart and make me feel like the odd one out.

In a world filled with all kinds of facades, rigid rules, and senseless cruelty, I found myself wanting to feel closer to a character much like myself in personality; someone with an open heart and wild imagination—someone a bit more open and free than the average person.

As it turned out, while driving through P.E.I, I fell in love with far more than Green Gables. I fell in love with the spaciousness of the wide, open fields of green, the redwood coloured sands, the gently sloping hills, and the majestic cliffs overlooking the great Atlantic sea.

Indeed, the entire province of Prince Edward Island simply took my breath away, and although I did not want to leave it behind, I nevertheless carried a warmth and love in my heart as I temporarily bid the Island farewell and have already made plans to return again—this time, for much longer.

Below are a few photos I took of the cliff and lighthouse on the Island, a moment I will never forget.

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Besides Prince Edward Island, Peggy’s Cove also holds an indelible place in my heart. Dating back to the early 1800s, Peggy’s Cove is known today as a quintessential fishing village in Nova Scotia, complete with an iconic lighthouse perched on an exquisite shoreline overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

As soon as I stepped foot onto the land, I was in awe—breathless and speechless amid the vast expanse of the ocean and the hauntingly beautiful hill slopes of the land surrounding the water. I spent hours basking in a feeling of pure and unadulterated ecstasy, devastated by the wonder that enveloped me.

Below are some of the photos I took of Peggy’s Cove Point lighthouse and the small fishing village.

Over all, both of these places have opened my heart and become another heaven on earth for me. While visiting them, I felt what Rumi termed “a river running through me, a joy.” Although I know intrinsically that people, places, and things are beautiful because we have beauty and love inside of us first and foremost, I nevertheless delight in the artistry of the earth and all of the gifts bestowed to us that we, while alive, have the privilege to honour and treasure with our entire heart.

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