The world's first "Vertical Forest".

Whilst aimlessly scrolling through a social media website it isn't often that I stumble upon something that really catches my attention. When I read an interesting tidbit of an article about a vertical forest, it intrigued me so much so that it has been on my mind quite often. I couldn't keep it to myself, so I present to you Bosco Verticale: the world's first vertical forest expected to be completed by this year!

The Bosco Verticale is being built in Milan, Italy by architect Stefano Boeri with the hopes of making a change in the ever-increasing pollution in the environment, and at the same time providing an innovative alternative to insulating the 400-something residential units between the two towers. There are a couple interesting articles about the Bosco Verticale here, here, and here, but if you don't want to read them you can look at a few key points I've highlighted below:

• The first example of a Bosco Verticale composed of two residential towers of 110 and 76 meters height [*]   
• The facade of the buildings will be covered with 730 trees, 5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 perennial plants. [*]
•  It is expected to have the same ecological impact as 10,000 square meters of forest. [*]
  
•  The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect the building from radiation and acoustic pollution. [*]
•  Each apartment in the building will have a balcony planted with trees [*]

There is also a video about the location which I will share. (The good stuff comes at about a minute into the video, just to let you know.)

Fascinating, isn't it? It makes me excited to see how amazing the world is going to be in a decade's time! It already has become a greater place to live in in some ways. There's always room for improvement though.

Endings lead to other beginnings.

As of right now, there are only two posts on my blog: this one, and the one I wrote when I first arrived in China. A lot has passed since then, and not just one year's time.

I'm glad that I wrote those things when I first got there, and now that I'm back in Canada I can really see the difference in myself over that year. There was something missing in my life before and I couldn't figure out what it was (to understand what I am referring to, I suggest you read that post first). It drove me crazy and made me want to jump out of my skin just to have the smallest sliver of knowledge about what that missing piece might have been. But I found it in China, and it changed my life; it changed who I am as a person, how I see things, and the way I observe and understand the people around me. Was it an array of events that somehow filled what was missing inside, or was it one moment? Was it being in a foreign city, or did I find it in the not-so-familiar parts of my mind? Was it because of a group of people, or one close friend? I can't tell you what it was that changed me because it's still not perfectly clear to me either. It's there and I found it, and one day it will resurface when I need it.

I also can't tell you what this missing piece exactly was. (I'm not giving a whole lot of information, I realize). Maybe that was my problem before. I was trying to believe that the missing piece was exactly something that I needed to find when in reality I had to find myself first. After I found myself - and living independently in China is what I have to thank for triggering that - the rest came on it's own.

It's all a bit "cliché", I know. But it's true. And the directionless force that seemed to nearly pull me back to China was almost a sign of fate, don't you think? Isn't it fate that makes a person experience a certain event, or come to terms with their hearts, or brings strangers together to meet? No matter what you believe in, things in life are meant to happen and they will happen as long as you keep an open mind and follow your heart.

I think I've written enough fluff for this post now.