July 4, 2022

If right this very moment isn’t perfect, than I don’t know what is ✨

I have a lot to comment on regarding the state of my home country and the heat in the city and the busy-ness that is life these days. I’m sure you do, too.

But then I remember, in this exact moment I live on a planet where I get nights like this all the time. And I’m grateful.

Not like “good vibes only” grateful but really, truly, deeply, insurmountably grateful. When I’m working in tourism I answer the same question almost every single day:

“So… what brought you to Rome?”

I want to show them photos like this. I want them to understand how my heart beats faster when I think of Rome. How even when I’m frustrated by her, I still love her deeply. But normally I just tell the quickest version. It involves @jamesbelgrave and an invitation to stay in Rome a few extra weeks and saying yes.

It involves a naivety that I’m pretty sure I still possess.

It involves a million decisions and breaking bones and breaking up and so much in between.

I often get asked if I’ll stay here forever. My answer is this, and I stole it from a tourist about 5 years ago:

I’m here indefinitely, but not forever.

It’s maybe an annoying answer and definitely not a full answer and I’ll be honest I do t think in terms of forever, almost never. So for now, here’s the eternal city on a hot, hot July night. Pretty. Damn. Perfect.