“Wherever you go, there you are.” I love that quote by Jon Kabat-Zinn—actually the title of his book. In fact I’m working on my own version that goes something like, “Wherever I go, there I live.” Oh, my home in Sudbury is really where I live, my true home, but when I’m at the cottage, or when traveling in Italy or Scotland, I want to feel that that’s where I am living at the moment. This mind set helps me live in the present rather than feel I am continuously in transition to the next place.
It’s easy to settle into a feeling of living at the cottage during the winter: four days there, three nights at home settles me into the rhythm of the days. Easter Sunday I fly to Florence for two weeks, not to visit but to live there. What makes me not a tourist? I know the city, I know enough of the language to get by, but that’s not it. I have consciously chosen to live there! I rent a small apartment and with that comes a kitchen. It’s the kitchen that says to me, “Yes, you are living here.” I go to the local supermarket for stables, and I buy fruit and vegetables at Piazza Santa Spirito, Mercato Centrale, and Mercato San Ambrogio. Then every morning I retreat to the Biblioteca delle Oblate to write. The café of this library overlooks the Duomo. What a way to live!!
It’s easy to settle into a feeling of living at the cottage during the winter: four days there, three nights at home settles me into the rhythm of the days. Easter Sunday I fly to Florence for two weeks, not to visit but to live there. What makes me not a tourist? I know the city, I know enough of the language to get by, but that’s not it. I have consciously chosen to live there! I rent a small apartment and with that comes a kitchen. It’s the kitchen that says to me, “Yes, you are living here.” I go to the local supermarket for stables, and I buy fruit and vegetables at Piazza Santa Spirito, Mercato Centrale, and Mercato San Ambrogio. Then every morning I retreat to the Biblioteca delle Oblate to write. The café of this library overlooks the Duomo. What a way to live!!