I'm born and raised in Toronto and must've driven by Mount Pleasant Cemetery literally thousands of times over my decades alive, always greatly intrigued by those beautiful monuments (which I now know by name) peeping out, yet only ever decided to venture inside of the cemetery gates within the last couple of years.
Since then, it's become my retreat within the city. My place of solace. A reprieve from the immense pressures of daily life. Above all else, a limitless source of beauty, awe, and inspiration. I like to go at least once a week- fortunately I live not too far- and have turned a few friends onto it as well. I think some of them perhaps maybe think I'm a bit strange to have such immense affection for a cemetery, but there truly is something incredibly special about Mount Pleasant- teleportative almost. Genuinely, anytime I stumble into there, I'm transported to a different time and place, both of which I prefer to my personal here and now. I spent a lot of time growing up in Europe, and something about it reminds me of places I'd been there- not necessarily just cemeteries, but just something about the general feel.
This time of year especially... it just does not get better... the late afternoon sun illuminating all of those gorgeous trees which watch over all of those beautiful graves. I could spend my entire days strolling through there, I really am so grateful to have finally entered that day and am just slightly upset I never did for all of those years prior- who knows the ways in which it could've inspired or perhaps even changed the course of my life somehow. I've, frankly, never been so inspired by a place.
I love both parts of the cemetery equally for different reasons. The "OG" (Yonge to Mount Pleasant) of course has all of the old world 'vibe' in spades, not to mention the most epic monuments (Morse, French, Captain Fluke, Gage, Cutten, then of course the more grandiose ones we all know), and I definitely give it the edge, but the part going from Mount Pleasant to Bayview really has a special 'feel' of its own, and I particularly am alway so enthralled walking that picture-perfect archway of trees before/after the forest, some great monuments there as well. It's so expansive. I also like to step in and visit with William Barker anytime I go.
Sorry to just keep yapping on and on, but I genuinely can't get over the place and genuinely feel my life has been immensely enriched ever since I began visiting. Despite my very wordy post, it's actually very difficult to articulate how/what all the place makes me feel, the emotions and ideas it elicits... but it's, vaguely speaking, some combination of morbid curiosity and incredible awe, wonder, and strangely, optimism and yearning for something truly great/epic. I'm a very introspective person with really a lot on my mind and the cemetery is a great backdrop to contemplation, but also just for getting lost in the surroundings and allowing inspiration to seep in. Particularly this time of year, walking through while the sun seeps through the leaves and hits your face and you're surrounded by all this beauty...
It's probably now my utmost dream to someday be laid to rest there, though, sadly, I very much doubt I'll ever be able to afford it. Sucks. I wonder if I got a job there if I'd be entitled to an employee discount.
Anyways, if you haven't, you absolutely must go check it out, ideally over the next week or so.
Anyone else on here as obsessed by Mount Pleasant?
