November 6, 2020

This view is so much more than just a view.

This view represents a feeling in my heart that took my breath away when I first started tour guiding (over 10 years ago now!). This view represents countless hours in the sun, telling countless humans the stories and fascinations about Ancient Rome.

Yesterday, this view represented nostalgia. It represented my former life as a tour guide. I love guiding, with my whole heart. I always have. I love being with people and telling them about history and the click in their brains when they ‘get it’. Seeing this city without tourists has been both stunning and melancholy. I miss people bustling around in all of Rome’s nooks and crannies. Equally, as I’ve expressed before, I so appreciate the perspective that I’ve gained over the past 8 months.

Perhaps that’s my nostalgia with this view. I think we’re all feeling a fatigued sense of anxiety these days. That might be an understatement. This view reminds me of how things used to be and that the current landscape is totally different. It begs me to start asking the harder questions: What’s the next step? Am I doing it right? Will there be even more rules? When will things return to ‘normal’? What’s normal?

Oh right,and as an ex-pat American these elections have me feeling just a tiny bit tense too. So here goes. What’s the right next step?

In the face of this stunning view the only advice I can give myself is to breathe. Take big deep breaths just like I’m sure I did the first time I ever saw it and remember that the right next step is always to breathe.