Slow down and enjoy more than the ruins of Italy

Salutations,
As I sit here and begin my blog all I hear is Erik Satie Gymnopédies 1. To be honest that is all I have heard in my head since I entered into Umbria about week ago. That musical piece and Umbria are a perfect match. Both slow and moving, rich and delicate, the notes linger in my brain as Umbria lingers on my palate. I realized something whilst here, I now understand that I am a country woman. For many years I fought the thought of loving the country, living in the country, always thinking that country folk were well, not to be rude, kinda slow. I know now that yes, they are slow, not in the insulting manner, no, actually they are slow in a positive way. As I walked through the countryside of Umbria and Tuscany, I noticed I was slow too; slow paced, slow to rush and slow to want to leave such beautiful surrounding. Italy has some of the most beautiful countrysides with some of the kindest people and the best food, oh the food...sigh...

I am back in Rome now, and well not to happy to return to the city. My heart and soul are comfortable in the country. I don't like the hustle and bustle of the city. The filth and non nonchalant behaviour of it's inhabitants. One would think coming to Rome would be one of best experiences of a lifetime, and perhaps if I hadn't become a country girl it might have been. Now don't get me wrong the ruins are amazing, but they are ruins. Artifacts that are left behind from our brutal past. The Colosseum known for it's many inhabitants that died there, for dare I say sport? It is a very contradictory place for me, Rome that is, as soon as I left the city proper I felt comfortable, I felt free, I felt slow....

I loved Umbria and Tuscany and all it brought out in me and all the joy it filled my soul with. As I sit here I can still smell the fresh truffles wafting into my hotel room, I can here the ladies exchanges words about the bread they just purchased, I can taste the fresh olive oil I had on my freshly baked ciabitta with rosemary and a cup of cappuccino. I can still feel the love I have of the country side beating in my heart. I am proud to say I am a slow country woman, and I wouldn't want to be anything else...

Tomorrow I had back to Purumrend, Holland and spend the last weeks there.

A Bohemian Rhapsody

"A forest thick with life and love, a time that stands still when nothing else does, eyes that seek the wood for the trees, and finds all the love there is in the thicket of Bohemian leaves."

I love the Bohemian forest and it surrounding villages. I have found true peace here.

Every time I come to Prague I fall just that much more in love with it. This time I fell head over heart. Just walking to the grocery store was like a romantic jaunt. I could feel the romance of the ages in the cobblestones as I wondered the alleys and lonely streets. I realized here that none of us are alone.

I sat one day and just existed in the moment, and in that moment I saw the exchange. I witnessed how though I do not know these people that passed me by, we shared a common thread, the breath. It was an amazing moment and I am so deeply grateful that I got to experience it here.

" A lone tree by the road a mother sees, lovely leaves reaching out to me. Clouds of hope drift above us, me, the tree, our moment to be. The tree reached high like a child for it's mother, a mother holding love in her heart as they stood together. The sky, played like an orchestra~ reds, represented the cellos, yellows, the soft violin, blues, the gentle flute, and the white of the clouds, they sang in angelic voices as they spread across the sky. Together, in that moment she feel in love again with all the reasons that she knew they were not alone."

Next stop Rome

Visiting a lesson learned over 2 years in Scotland whilst in The Czech Republic

What a way to open a blog, almost sounds like I don't like The Czech Republic. That is of course, not the case.

The thing about being in the moment, is being in the moment. I try to write my blog in the country or time, that I am in. Some how time got away from me, not that time really exists, but the concept of what it represents, got away from me. I learned something new about myself while I was in Scotland. I learned that if you truly are happy with who you are, no one can take that away, and no one can make you feel unhappy about yourself. I don't need validation to live, I don't need acceptance to accept who I am, and someone can not make my life worth living, more than I can. The beauty that is Scotland helped me see that. Last year when I began walking this path in earnest, I had heard of these concepts, but I didn't know if they were true. How would I know if I didn't try them, if I didn't practice them. Well, I read the practice on love and on the self. It explains how we are not improved by the people we amass in our lives, but by how we love ourselves. A real love.

This year I didn't get to sit with the flowers in the royal gardens, but I stayed in the town where Rob the Bruce is buried, I got to walk the grounds of an abbey where monks lived so many hundreds of years ago. There I understood what love was. There in the soil I felt how they lived and loved. It was an amazing experience.

Now, I am here. I love being here, and it wouldn't matter if the here where Prague or Corona, the best place to be is always here. The best love you can give is love for yourself.

Next stop Rome.