Certain cities carry integration:

A quote from a friend who recently visited a city which made her feel more whole, or able to invite more parts of herself into the same house.

“That city lets all the parts of myself come under one roof!” My friend said of Jerusalem. They don’t have to struggle against one another-we are both being ourselves, where we are at. They can be in active dialogue and respect each other. Integrative cities! Places where the whole self can be and come home!

“I’m able to be my whole self there, even while it is all present and becoming. I’m able to bring the parts of myself into one city and bless her as she does.”

Our biographies often align with our city’s. Mapping the two helps us chart our trajectories. We are mirrors for one another! How your own story relates to your city’s matters, and is part of your mutual healing, or becoming more whole. We are also not victims of our cities, we are co-laborers of becoming with them!

Why are you in a healing or haven city? Why in a powerhouse building city? Why in an alpha versus a mid sized entreprenuerial city? How does your personal story relate to your city’s? And where are you both at in your journey? Fun questioning my way into these city and life conundrums today!

We live where we are, but it’s good to know where our stories overlap! What city do you feel most fully yourself in? And why. How do your journeys meet. How does your narrative fit into your city’s? Love to read some autobiographies which included the autobiography of the cities we live in! And how they reflect and refine one another!

For this woman, the city she visited carried integration. Some cities have an integration gift, others a haven until you see gift. Each city has it’s gifts and shadows as each person. Knowing which city carries what you need seasonally is a key to meaningful journeying, and spiritual development.

We choose where we live, and need to know her story before we came along, and see how ours fits in, and can potentially bless our city. This is part of being in loving mutually formational relationship with our city.