labyrinth in the shopping mall

so i finally got a chance to walk the labyrinth in the middle of the eaton centre in downtown T-dot. having lived here for 4 years and known about it for a good chunk of time that's kind of silly i guess. for those who don't live in toronto, there's a big mall in the middle of our downtown and there's a full size chartres catherdral style labyrinth in an open space in the middle of the mall. it's often closed for the season, or i'm passing by in a hurry or stopping (God help me) to get something at the mall in a hurry! but today, i had a job interview at the AGO at 8:15 am and nothing to hurry home to. so i stopped to walk the path.
each labyrinth i have walked (in many parts of the world) have such a different setting which really shape the experience. being in the middle of the mall, i had a crowd of onlookers who were out for a morning coffee/smoke break. so they sat around the edge. other than that, a lot of people pass through the square and one guy walked part of the path briefly. being on display was a little intimidating but ended up being a really interesting part of the walk as i tried to figure out how to pray and contemplate and walk the path publicly in the midst of a crowd in the midst of the city. i felt like this was some sort of life lesson! i'm so used to labyrinths in secluded nature spots or church halls where the only people around are participants.
in addition, the path is worn in but also worn out (unlike the picture!). it is a grass labyrinth with no other markers. the new growth of grass on the path muddled me a few times. it was really interesting trying to walk an almost hidden obscure path - my past experience walking, making and drawing labyrinths was the only thing that kept me going in the right direction a lot of the time. this also provided an interesting thing to contemplate: not only was the path twisty and turny, and labyrinths generally tend to be about not walking straight lines but a turning path.... this one had the additional challenge of uncertainty and vagueness. kind of where i'm at right now with God and life plans. I know there is a path but i can't really see it, so i just have to walk where i think the path is and trust that i'm still on it and that at some point i'll make it to where i'm supposed to be going.
weird how the space itself was the thing that brought to light issues that i am working through and thinking about... primarily: how to boldly live out my faith in midst of the city and where my life is going...!