Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Fly on the Wall

Americans read "Under the Tuscan Sun".
Americans read "Eat, Pray, Love".
Americans watch Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in "The Tourist".
People ask me all the time, "Isn't it amazing living in Tuscany?"

Yesterday, I sat in my bed reading a book in Italian and a line in the book said, "First, you need to learn to love yourself. Only then, will you be able to love again."

I have been a character in each of those books and I have been Angelina Jolie sitting on that train.
Once upon a time, I hung out at baseball stadiums, Friday Happy Hours, shopping malls on Saturday afternoons, and Sunday matinees.

During those Sunday matinees I would watch the glamourous lives and cultures visited, die for the clothes and dream of being that woman on the screen.
The films do not adequately convey the moments of solitude, the depth of suffering or the heartbeat that palpitates out of control.

At this precise moment, I accept the train ride, the lost souls I encounter on the journey and the fleeting encounters with good people along the way.
And yes, Tuscany is an amazing place to be...
Me.

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