Decompression

Cortona is quite possibly one of the loveliest places I have ever been, and I do believe that it will remain with me for quite some time. It’s a medieval hill town in Tuscany, situated in terraces over a wide valley with a lake in the distance. I’m staying near the top in a reclaimed monastery, and the view of the valley and towns below is absolutely beyond words. Morning comes early, with the sun rising about five and clinging to the horizon until well after nine in the evening. I wake up to the most beautiful light across miniature terra cotta rooftops in the valley below, the fields stained glass shards of greens with spider webs of roads and towns illuminated and glittering under the stars after the sun goes down. I’ve yet to explore the winding roads fully, taking time to get lost down back alleys and turns, but look forward to during my early mornings.

I’ve been waking up at 6:30 to go jogging in the park at the bottom of The Hill (The Hill being a grueling cobblestone slope leading from the base of the town up to the campus, all at a cruelly steep angle that I’m sure will tone the ass nicely by the time this is all said and done with.). The park has a nice level gravel path running under the shade of trees, the valley and view below visible over the wall only feet away. And the SMELL! I don’t think I’ll ever get over these trees! I haven’t figured out what they are yet, but they fill the air with the most amazing aroma I’ve ever been enveloped in. And it’s everywhere. It’s like an entire town of good smell. It’s cool yet bright when I head out for my jog, following up the workout with a hike up The Hill with the promise of granola and yogurt for breakfast at the end. I hope to continue with this every morning… It’s good for my soul, and I don’t feel like I’m missing a minute of this amazing city.

I’ve been taking my days slowly, waking up early and taking a nap mid-morning. I usually wake up to music outside my open window, either Amelie played on the accordion by Carlo, a son of the ceramics teacher around Nicho’s age, or Jim playing guitar and singing soul. I know this will change once classes start tomorrow, but nevertheless, it’s nice. I can tell that the impulse to reach for my phone and turn it off/check the time/check for calls has been fading and quickly so. I can tell that I’m decompressing… finally. I haven’t been able to release the need to Skype friends and family back home yet. I’m thinking that I need to repurpose my nights and give myself up to a glass of wine or coffee and a sketchbook on the town more than sitting and fighting the internet connection and trying to hear calls. I’m still calling home, of course… but I don’t want to miss HERE for staying too in touch with THERE.

There’s a lot I want to accomplish and discover here. I want to re-focus my life away from working part time at crappy jobs, AIESEC burnout, and neglecting my need for “me-time” while I’m here. I want to push my designs, my art, and my creative process to the max. I want to let myself go and get enveloped in a project without worrying about the millions of other things I pile on tapping on my shoulder. I want to give my brain and my heart the peace it needs so I can really, REALLY think clearly and rediscover my happy map. I don’t necessarily think that this is a big change in direction on said map… no, I think being here in Cortona for the summer is a re-illumination of lines that have dimmed, lines I’ve neglected to follow through being pulled in a million directions at once.

You are here. It’s very different from where I started, and I’ve come a long way. Yet I know that there’s still a long, LONG way to go without an end in sight. Let this be my chance to remove distractions and concentrate on following what this here happy map has to take me.