August 22, 2024
One afternoon in 2017, four of my best friends in the whole entire world (who I grew up with in Asheville, NC) and I got some India ink and needles and gave ourselves stick and poke tattoos.
The tattoos are five dots (some of us have more…prominent tattoos than others which is a story for a different day). Anyway. These four humans have carried me through all the times (the hard ones, the good ones, the weird ones, and the life-changing ones).
To get to spend a week on a catamaran with them, in an area of Sicily I’d never visited, was priceless.
Life changing. Life reaffirming. Life enhancing.
From a me-centered perspective (that’s what this is, after all) it was unbelievable getting to see my Asheville life and my Italian life and the fact that they’re the same life (duh, but being an expat comes with its own set of questions of course).
This trip was a cherry on a the cake of an exploration of roots and wings that I have been swimming in for years. It was once in a lifetime.
But, like not ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ in the sense that we can’t do it again (we can!) but in the sense that getting to be around people who *see* you is always unique to where you’re at in the exact moment that it happens.
If I were to make a list of all the incredible things that happened on this trip I’d run out of room and y’all might get bored.
So I’ll leave it with: Gratitude. So much gratitude that I can’t contain it. That it spills out of me and leaks all over the place. For friendships that span decades. For this beautiful country that has lovingly adopted me. For the roots where I came from. For a life that feels increasingly like I’m doing it right, even when I’m confused.
I’ve had an estate italiana that has surpassed my wildest dreams, truly. And this is a reminder to you, sweet human, that you’re allowed to dream big and create the reality you desire. You really are. You really can.
It’s also a reminder: slow living and rest and pleasure and enjoying yourself are all things that you deserve.
Thanks to this trip for teaching me SO much more about life, the human condition, Italy, the USA, and most importantly: friendship.
💛💛💛
