My Latest Obsession and the LAST giveaway from Italy!

At first I thought it was a Greek-inspired theme, the capture of door handles and locks. But my latest obsession continued in Scotland. I have a weakness for doors, that is nothing new. Lately that interest has been specifically focused on colorful, old doors with interesting keyholes or locks. This one is from a church in Inverness, and isn't it cool how you can see the architectural element brought through to the door detail? I also liked how the dustiness reflects the light differently, highlighting the form of the details.

Thank you so much for the many comments on yesterday's post. It is good to know that being real and true to my heart resonates with other people. I appreciated all of the encouragement and support for my transition back to the US. There is truly a wealth of generosity and positive support to be found here on the internet. I am always surprised when I hear people say that things like blogs, Facebook, twitter, etc. are a waste of time. I guess they can be, but they can also be a source of genuine connection and I love that.

As I start sorting things into piles for my move (what to ship, what to give away, what to take on the flight, etc.), I've realized that I have some more things to give away, and time is running short. So today I'm launching my LAST giveaway from Italy. Of course I'll do more in the future, but this will be your last opportunity to get mail from me in Italy. 

I'm giving away four items and there will be four different winners!  I have a lens cleaning cloth printed with the mosaics from Ravenna (great for glasses or camera lenses), two sets of note cards from Florence, and a set of 5 random postcards of my images that I happen to have left (time to order more!).

You can have up to three entries:

1. Just leave a comment and say hi!

2. If you are a newsletter subscriber, leave a separate comment. (The newsletter is coming out tomorrow with some sneak peek info on my upcoming classes. Why not subscribe today? The form is on the left sidebar of the blog.)

3. If you follow me anywhere, leave a separate comment. By follow I mean through google, facebook, twitter, networked blogs, or rss feed. 

Please leave separate comments for each entry. I'm going to do a random drawing based on the total number of comments, so if you write it all in one comment you will still only have one entry.

You can leave comments through around 9pm PST Monday, June 13. I'll pick the winners on Tuesday morning when I wake up. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win - either a link back to a website, email, your name (if I know you personally), something along those lines. If I can't figure out how to contact you, I'll just re-draw for your item.

[Update: Giveaway has closed. See Tuesday's post for the winners!]

Along with this giveaway, I just want to give a public thank you to my husband Patrick, for all his help with these giveaways since I've started them. He's the one that goes to the post office and waits in line to mail them while I'm working my day job. Here in Italy, this can sometimes take hours or even multiple trips to get things mailed. If you've ever won anything or received mail from me, he's had a part in mailing it. If you want to visit his blog and leave a note of thanks, he would love it.

Enjoy your weekend!

A Realization of the Heart

There are some things that loom larger than life in your future, and then there are the things that sneak up on you unaware. I had a moment yesterday where a "larger than life" part of my life managed to sneak up and catch me by surprise at the same time.

I was walking in Parco di Monza and admiring the wonderfully refurbished Lo Scrittore* sculpture. It's all shiny and looking its best after they worked on it last month. I was wondering how long it would take before it started looking worn again, with peeling paint and the wood falling off. Then I realized, I won't be here to see it. I really won't be here. I burst into tears. What I've known at an intellectual level forever finally hit me at an emotional level. We're moving in three weeks. Three weeks. I will no longer be here, living in Italy. No longer walking in Parco di Monza everyday.

It's interesting, how I can hold two realities in my head at the same time. The reality of living in Italy and the reality of living in Oregon. Both seem so comfortable and real. What is completely unreal and hard for me to even grasp is the reality of living in Oregon after living in Italy. What will it be like to be there, as a completely different person? Because my time in Italy has changed me, changed all of us in our little family, more than I ever imagined. And I'm so, so happy with the changes.

What I have finally realized is that I'm not returning to my "old life" in Oregon. I'm moving to a new life, that happens to be in an old place. Going back to an old place doesn't mean going back to an old life or an old me. It reminds me of the time, four months after my son was born, that I finally realized life wasn't going to go back to "normal." There was a new "normal" with the addition of my son then, and there will be a new "normal" for my life in Oregon now. In a way, this realization is kind of freeing. I'm open to redefine things however I like, as long as I avoid falling into assumptions that life has to be the same just because it's the same place.

I think I've been writing this blog post in my head, over the last 24 hours, as I've wrestled with some of these realizations. There was the little, planner part of my brain that said, "No, no, you're doing Scotland photos this week!" But as always, what I need to write wins out over what I planned to write. This blog is about my creative journey, and I can't write anything else and be true to me. I think that's why I've avoided calling myself a travel blog, or an expat blog, or even a photography blog. Because my blog is all of those things and none of them, depending on the day. Conventional wisdom for "growing a blog following" is to know your topic, know your audience and write for them. Today I'm saying aloud something I've felt for a long time: To hell with conventional wisdom. I write this blog for me.

This blog is about one woman's creative journey wherever she may be. I write about what is important to me, fascinating me, challenging me in that moment. It happens that I have a passion for photography and can't help teaching when I'm passionate about something, and that's why you see a lot of photography. I love art and creativity and reading inspirational books, so you get that too. Since I've been living in Italy, I write about my life here and our travels. All because it's who I am right now. Where my life happens is going to change, but who I am will stay the same.

Thanks for joining me on this unpredictable journey. The fact that my little life and interests can connect with others is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

___________________________

*Lo Scrittore is a sculpture by Giancarlo Neri, installed in Monza Park (Parco di Monza) in 2006 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the park. The sculpture is painted plywood over a metal frame. The table  measures 7.5 meters high and 11 meters long, and the chair is 10 meters tall. I captured this picture while they were working on it last month, to give a better idea of the scale. I absolutely love this sculpture.