Once upon a time, there was a middle-aged man living in Sanremo, Italy, who turned off for the summer. He put down the burden of reacting to every news headline, every crisis, and every demand of a spinning world. Instead, he allowed himself the luxury of simply being, of stepping back, savoring the present without obligation or pressure.
I felt powerless and fearful for where things are heading. I decided I needed to really focus on the present and what I could do to make the most of today. So I did what the Italians do in the summer: take the summer off and head to the beach!
I don’t remember a time when people felt the need to react more than they do today. Like many of you, I’m confounded by the speed of change and the direction the world is moving. I wholeheartedly believe that there is always a Divine plan, but it sure feels like the wheels are off the bus. The destination is a cliff somewhere in the near future. I worry about the same things you do: the disaster of American politics, the war in Ukraine, and what’s happening between Israel and the people of Palestine. If the Divine is looking for a moment to intercede, it would seem now would be better than ever.
Blissful ignorance can be a beautiful thing. It’s not that I’m suggesting we seek to be ill-informed. I am suggesting that sometimes we need to unplug for a while from all of the catastrophes around us. In doing so, we allow ourselves space to return to what’s natural. For me, that means putting down the burden of trying to absorb, solve, and react. It’s finding that space when you can simply be without reacting, even when the whole world wants your reaction.
I haven’t been entirely unproductive
Despite my forced relaxation, this summer has proven to be very productive with regard to the book I am writing. I took a three-month hiatus from my blog to focus more on the book. In June, I began in earnest to piece together the real plan. I had worked a few years back with a journalist and author friend of mine, Christine, to sketch the outline. It was a good jumping-off point, but it was only the beginning. As a Virgo, I needed to see the plan, structure, and format before I could dive into the task.
I can now see the flow of the entire story. I have a map and a plan to finish the draft by year-end. The last two years of waiting now bring me more experience, more stories, and more clarity. I’m not giving myself too much grief. The only deadline I have is the one I put out there.
I’m in the emotional excavation period at this point, and I have drafted the first three of seven sections. Those three sections deal with the early days of my decision to live in Italy. They are full of grief, anticipation, self-discovery, and a lot of really painful memories. It gets a bit heavy at times, and I have to pull myself away from the keyboard.
I balanced writing, staying social, self-care, and doing just a little travel to keep summer moving along. It was a good way to avoid thinking about a world out of control and certainly well beyond my control.
Could this be THE place for me
While all of that writing was going on, and I was enjoying my first summer in Sanremo, I felt as if I had found home. There was no other place calling me to visit, no adventures that seemed more enticing. There was no desire to stop the momentum of living in the present.
I turned down invitations to travel, and I even stemmed the flow of visitors. I did not want the burden of entertaining or planning for someone else’s visit. It felt strange to say no to so many things and people. However, it felt wonderful taking in the spontaneity of life day by day and living a bit selfishly.
In Italy, summer isn’t a time for resting in your house and watching Netflix. It’s a time to be out filling the main streets and piazzas until late into the evening with friends and family. And in the daytime, you go to the beach.
After spending a good portion of my life in California, I can confidently say that Italians have a greater love affair with the sea. During the summer they are swimming and sunning themselves all day long, lunching away on focaccia from the local bakery. The beach is the summer destination, peaking the third week of August and the national holiday of Ferragosto, when most of Italy can be found swimming in the warm sea.
One of the reasons I chose Sanremo was that it’s a small city that thrives year-round. So many coastal towns close down after the summer season ends. Sanremo, with a year-round population of around 50,000 people, only gets better in the summer. You can walk down the streets and hear French, German, English, Swedish, Dutch, and a host of other languages. It feels as international as any place I have ever visited, and the wonderful mix of people is like nothing I have ever experienced in America.
So while I apologize for my deferred blog posts, I did enjoy a rather self-indulgent summer. It’s the first summer, after seven years of searching, where I found my right space in this seemingly crazy wrong world.
The importance of unplugging and replugging
As I mentioned earlier, it was a difficult thing to watch from afar as the world changed around me. I was unable to disconnect from the news cycle, the anger, and all of the resentment. I needed to take some time to refocus and, quite frankly, rethink my priorities.
Now that summer is behind me, I am replugging back into life. I have been looking for more reliable ways to gather information, make my own opinions based on the discussions of various thought leaders, and generally reenter gently without the anger and resentment.
I believe we are beginning to see change in a positive direction. The paralyzing state of disbelief is wearing off, and people are now taking action. Heroes are emerging who are trying to bridge the gap between the misinformation and the misunderstood.
If you would like something to perhaps take your tension down a bit this weekend, check out Heather Cox Richardson’s Facebook page and video feeds. She is a political historian, who I find incredibly refreshing. She recaps current events and ties them to historical significance. After listening to a few of her podcasts, she gives you the sense that there are incredibly smart people out there working to prevent the worst.
I also found Robert Reich’s substack article, The Sleeping Giant is Awakening, an interesting read. It left me with hope after last week’s dizzying amount of chaos and outlandish political events.
I do believe the pendulum will swing back, and at some point return to a more balanced place, where people behave more like considerate humans and less like unleashed aggressors using the cover of religion to shield their hate.
In the meantime, I’m going to say good morning to strangers, give food and money to those who need it, and try to be the best audience member in this circus we find ourselves in at the moment. I don’t have to join the circus, just because I’m being asked to watch it.
I hope you can find your rightful place in the audience, and not become a performer in the circus. Advocate for the things that are important to you, but do so in a way that makes your heart full and allows you to rest easy at night. I do believe there is a change coming and the world is trying to find a way to right itself.
Thanks for following along, and I appreciate your patience as I took some time off to focus on my priorities and work on those things that were most important to me. If you aren’t following my blog, you can enter your email below and I’ll only send you updated blog posts, nothing else. If you want to recommend my blog to a friend, please know that I appreciate your shares on your social media pages.