Fire. It keeps us warm, until suddenly things get so hot…we’re burning. Never in a million years did I think I’d see my beautiful city in flames. A city so magical, so alive…suddenly we all witness its vulnerabilities before our very eyes. But how? Why? What next?
The question suddenly becomes, how deep does our love go for Los Angeles? How many of us are going to stick around and rebuild? And how many of us are going to walk away? For better or for worse? Or are most people’s love for LA conditional?
Comparable to our favorite situationship, the city of Los Angeles held our hand and then tragically ghosted us. It left us homeless, saddened, but maybe if we care to look deep enough, we can see that it needed someone to hold its hand too.
Watching this beautiful city burn to the ground, I think back to all of my favorite memories, so many stories — and have the memories turned to ash as well? Driving down the crowded PCH on a random Saturday to go watch an independent artist perform by the Malibu Pier, passing by each beautiful, beachfront home wondering how someone got so lucky to live there. Falling in love as your toes touch the sand, the smell of salt filling your senses. By night, dancing at BreakRoom 86. Walking down Abbot Kinney in Venice, discovering a gallery, or a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that only you know exists. Poetry slams. Small businesses. And suddenly it’s all gone…all burnt down to nothing. Dust. As if it never existed. A city so alive, suddenly deceased by its own demise. Each adventure I’ve recounted, reminds me of the vibrant, chaotic, and endearing personality of this city. These moments aren’t just stories; they are threads in the fabric of LA’s soul — proof that even amidst the chaos, beauty persists.
The city of angels…Endless possibilities. Endless dreams. That is what LA is. A haven for dreams and people who are bold enough to pursue them. And I believe that is a display of the strength and resilience that will be bold enough to rebuild this timeless city. Five hundred and three square miles of poets, artists, dreamers, and doers. Los Angeles was built by people who no one else had faith in, but who had enough faith in themselves to create something outside the lines. People brave enough to envision something no one else could see.
And then there was the chaos of it all as well — a city full of the heartbreaks, the stormy nights filled with passion and turmoil, the fleeting moments of connection that seemed to echo the chaos of the city itself. They were part of LA, too — a reminder that love and loss often walk hand in hand. Similar to what I learned with the Storm, sometimes life will throw you a disaster, but it’s also a chance for rebirth, growth, and something greater. So many of us come to Los Angeles trying to build something, but it is really a city that shapes its people. Each person we meet along the way, a reflection of this city’s complexity, its allure, and its contradictions.
This city has been both muse and metaphor, a lover that inspires and frustrates. Los Angeles is the city of angels, and perhaps that is what we need right now — a reminder of its resilience, its ability to rise again, and its endless capacity to dream. This isn’t its first tragedy…and still it has found its way back. People love LA because of the hope it holds; you can be anyone you want to be. And I believe the magic of LA still exists; it just needs to be nurtured until it is whole again. It has given me the kind of memories that make the heart ache with nostalgia, even as the skies are filled with smoke and uncertainty.
So, has so much been said and done that it’s time to walk away? Or do we stick around, rebuild, and see where this love can go? Even if it isn’t the same love as before…maybe a new love is what we need and what we deserve.
Our relationship with LA is that of a romantic relationship where we are left with a choice: is this an ending? A time to walk away? Or do we try to rebuild what has been broken to rediscover a love that might just be a new beginning?
Xoxo,
Alexandria
This issue is dedicated to all the firemen and first responders as well as anyone who has been affected by the Los Angeles fires. My heart is pouring out love for you and I am praying for you.