Old and New

Initially this was a travel blog (Along the Arno) while I lived in Florence Italy for several months. Hopefully it went beyond that to reveal something of life lived outside of a comfort zone. A growing essay on the subject of discovery, alienation, communication, and wonder. Naturally, I couldn’t continue with quite the same focus when I returned to America.

So here I am. Now my alienation has been turned on its head and I feel removed from my adopted country and the life that brought me back to myself. The self that lives under layers — layers of comfort and habit gets stripped away when you are removed from the ordinary and confront life alone in a foreign land.

For now I’ll think of this new chapter as me trying to keep it all — the knowledge, power, and lifestyle — that I learned briefly over there and fit it into the old life I’m back in again. My only hope is that it is still full of discovery, communication, and wonder.

As usual, let me know what you think. Thanks! Julia