Villa I Due Padroni

Even before Frances Mayes enticed readers to visit Italy, I fell in love with all things Italian. My dream was realized in 2005 with a trip to Italy, alone, for 22 days. I stayed in a home much like Stef and Nico’s for 8 days, took cooking classes with the local Italian Mama’s, and have longed to go back since I boarded the plane to come back. To me that is the ultimate American dream – but I can see that it is really an International dream, too; living la dolce vita. Stef Smulders book Living in Italy: The Real Deal – How to Survive the Good Life shows that two gentlemen from Holland are living out the ultimate deal – and Stef wrote of their adventures. What is not to love about that?

I was given the chance to read Stef’s book by way of an advance e-copy from the author. I delayed reading it for a bit, but I am so glad I finally settled in and finished it! What a delight. The chapters are short, comically humorous snapshots of Italian bureaucracy, Italian thinking, and the Italian way of life. But there is more underneath; the story of two people who take control of their lives (as much as they can in a foreign country!) and make their own dreams come true; dreams that they secretly held, or had yet to discover. That is true adventure.

One of the things that struck me the most is the tone of the book. Stef is never judgmental of the Italians and their way of life or thinking. He accepts them as they are yet still maintains his own good humor despite all the very real struggles he and Nico encountered. To experience it is one thing, to write about it and keep the tone light and humorous is perfect for this narration. I am grateful for the gift of this terrific read, and I hope Stef writes more about their Italian adventures soon! I look forward to reading more – and to pay a visit one day soon to Villa I Due Padroni.

Living in Italy - Book Reviews
http://www.duepadroni.it/

It's Never Too Late To Begin Again

In December while on Christmas break I discovered mention of Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way. I began the main exercise of that book – an activity called Morning Pages. The idea of morning pages is a catharsis of sorts; to clear one’s brain from the debris that we all have floating around inside of us. As early as possible upon rising for the day the idea is to hand write 3 8 ½ by 11 pages of thoughts. It’s not exactly journaling, and it is written for no audience to read. It is stream-of-consciousness writing and from it patterns in life emerge and we can sort of clear and address any blocks we might have – clearing the way for creativity, but not just as an artist or writer, but in our careers or jobs; our family life; wherever we might be blocked. It is a fabulous exercise. I do find it a challenge to rise an hour earlier to do this exercise, and sometimes I don’t have an opportunity to write until after work, but I feel it is helping me in my life. I feel clearer, more focused. I am able to concentrate and even think about the future through different eyes. It’s interesting that it took me this long to pick up that particular book; it was published in the mid-90’s and as a bookseller from 1998 through 2014 I have seen that book countless times, never taking the time to discover what it was about. It’s made a world of difference to me.

When I saw that Julia had a new book coming out – It’s Never Too Late To Begin Again, and that I could read it through Net Galley in exchange for a fair book review I completely jumped at the chance. Admittedly, when I began reading it and discovered that Julia primarily wrote it for newly retired people I nearly balked at reading it. But then I remembered that The Artist’s Way was not written purely for artists, either, so I continued on. The book is written to help individuals realize that it is never too late to begin life again. Some of us are considering out place in life, contemplating a change in our life style or career, and some of us are in an in-between stage of life; some people are just beginning retirement and are uncertain what life will bring next. Regardless of where we are, I believe this book can help us discover our next desire or course of action.

 I have not finished the book,  and I really don’t want to. It is one of those books that I am just delighting in reading and I truly do not want it to end and be over. I’ve skipped ahead, skipped back, re-read the inspirational quotes, flipped forward again – I keep reading back and forth, but I am not ready to be finished with it.  A few years ago in my first job as a school librarian I worked for a private school. We held our twice annual book fairs at the local Barnes & Noble, and that suited me fine; I worked at that particular store part-time, and book fair weeks were a lot of work, but fun, too; being a bookseller and school librarian during that stage of my life were probably some of the most fulfilling days of my career. Parents were so appreciative of my knowledge and honesty, and steering the children toward “just-right” books was such a pleasure and so satisfying. At the same time, in between visits from the kids (they rode on the bus as a field trip to the store and often parents would meet them there), the parents would wander the store and I could talk books to as many as wanted to. One particular mom had been fighting cancer over that past year. She had two daughters; one was on the verge of “graduating” 8^th grade; the other had graduated the year prior. In our chat at the store she spoke frankly of her illness and her fears of dying from her illness. I don’t know how the conversation drifted, but we began speaking of the afterlife. And from that I told her of a book I had read on the subject which captivated me – Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss. She ended up purchasing it, and a few weeks later she called me and left me a voice mail. When I first heard her voice, my heart beat incredibly fast and lodged in my throat. She said, Kim, I just want you to know I have not finished the book, and I do not want to. I thought – oh, no! Then she went on in a rush of laughter – she loved it, thought it was fabulous and did not want it to end, which is why she was not going to finish it.

That is how I feel about Julia Cameron’s newest book. I don’t want it to end. It is not a book designed to be read in one sitting. It is intentionally set up to be spread out over a twelve week period. There are tasks involved – Morning Pages, Walking, creating a Memoir, an Artist Walk. Each are activities designed for soul searching; for rediscovering ones passions – or even finding them for the first time. I am very new to Julia Cameron and her books, but I am truly enthralled with her writing and her suggestions. I look forward to continuing with this book and never really finishing it. Julia – thank you so much for your gifts to your readers.

Thoughts on Being Busy and Waiting

A reading, quiet morning. I am feeling reflective, yet not. Restless, yet not. Waiting. I feel as if I am waiting for something, but I am unsure of what. Mostly I am feeling at quiet loose ends with myself; like I am in limbo for some reason. Searching? Wondering? Curious? Unsettled or too settled? Still, none of those words really describe how I feel. I think maybe this morning I am more about just being in the moment, and yet, not really. Disconnected? Maybe it is just a morning to purge some thoughts, think them, make them lucid, and then dispose of them. I don’t feel one way or another, passionate about any one topic just now. The birds are singing their morning songs, the sun rises over the pasture in all its silver and gold finery, casting green misty beams through the trees and the moss, sparkling dew drops in the grass. It’s a peaceful, quiet time. I want to say it is a fresh morning – that is what Simonetta called a similar morning in Adine-in-Chianti; that cool time before the sun comes up strong and true; a freshness in the air, a cool, calm that almost seems to exist solely to make a person smile.

To match this odd mood I am in I just read this passage from the book I am currently reading; Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos.

                On an impulse, Will asked, “What have you been waiting for?”
                When Pen answered, her voice was solemn and sheepish, “How did you know? Because you’re right. I am waiting. It hits me now and then: that I’ve been saving myself for something. A sign. A person.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “Mostly, though, I’m just busy.”

I understand that. I just said this very thing to a friend yesterday. I feel as if I am waiting. For nothing in particular, but for something, somehow. In the meantime, I just feel like I’m busy. A while back I read an article on the word “busy”. Busy is a catch-all word that can mean most anything. Busy-work is work that just keeps a person occupied, maybe busy work is unfulfilling in ways; something to do in order to fill time. Busy is an excuse we use when we don’t want to really do something – I’m sorry, I’m busy now, that night, whenever. “I’m too busy” is an implication somehow that my life is much more important than you or whatever you want to do. There is a lot of stigma in the word “busy”. And yet we seem to consider it a true, honest word. We, as a society in general are just too busy. We fill our lives with so many things; it is almost a badge of honor to be so busy – to be too busy to go out with friends or to attend that concert, or to even find time for ourselves to breathe. Busy-ness is the norm now, and I am pretty sure it is not healthy in any regard. There is that old proverb that idle hands are the devil’s workshop – but I am pretty sure that does not mean fill every waking moment with something; slothfulness is a sin and all that. I guess I’ll get back to that thought when I am not so busy. J I think busy-ness is an excuse, plain and simple. I have been very aware of the word and how often I hear it over the last few months. I have found myself avoiding using it. It does not stop that fact that I often DO have conflicts in my over-booked schedule sometimes, but it does make me aware that I really do need to change what I try to fit into my life on a daily or weekly basis. I too often fill my days with things that are not fulfilling my soul. So Pen’s statement about waiting; I think that is true in a nutshell. Busy-ness, killing time, waiting. That is what I am aware of this quiet, reflective, yet not, morning. I’m in a waiting mood.