8:52am

The constraints of a given place become a way to savor the little there is even more. Waking up in this small apartment in Ravello, with its small kitchen, handful of dishes, its tiny moka pot; but that friction giving me that feeling of being so ingrained in the experience, the gratitude of the moment, the smell of the ground coffee, the sound of the bubbling water, the sherbert-colored sunrise on the patio. I could very much get used to this.

11:32am

The whole idea of time-capsules, mini-epiphanies, prosaic forcing functions. It’s this whole notion of building up these vignettes over time, almost as second memory.

It’s very similar to the way that photographing changes how I look at things, that a regular logging practice (and subsequent/timely pruning, and prose processing) will help me stay attuned with what is intuitively resonant to me.

11:08am

So many restaurants here have no music playing, it’s just conversation and the clinking of plates and silverware. It’s almost like people are afraid of awkward silence in the US. Or they are afraid to be left alone with their thoughts.

10:01am

More unexplainable cultural osmosis: life lived in the moment. Not focused on hyper-optimization, “manifesting”, growth, just living very fully in the moment. In the same way that an impatient driver on the road is contagious, maybe the pervasive growth mentality, the keeping up with Joneses, the bigger and better than you mentality bleeds into our brains (further exacerbated by the social media and advertising hijacking our tribal instincts and reward pathways). I didn’t see any billboards in Florence or Ravello.

7:33am

Taken aback by the size of things here. And Americans’ relationships with trash and waste. Tiny wastebins; our hosts—maybe sensing that we are yankees—tell us that anything we can’t fit in them would have to be deposited in the street-side receptacles. Everything seems more right-sized here; bulk-sized and bulk-buying taking on new meaning. Everything is bigger (but not necessarily better…) in the United States. Bigger portions, bigger groceries, bigger cars (to fit more groceries), bigger ambitions, more consumption, and more trash. So much trash, so much waste.

4:18pm

Everything in this cute little corner store (Carduccio - Il Salotto Bio) is right-sized. A small market of fresh foods, just a few of each grocery — not overstocked — just right; run by two hip, middle-aged Italian women. “It feels like you’re in someone’s kitchen.”

I want to own a restaurant like this, a little nook in an alley (in old town Florence).

9:24am

Meagan and I made it a point on our one year anniversary to find a rose garden in Florence to read some renewed vows to each other.

I wish we had a million lifetimes together … it’s hard to accept that we’ll only have one, and it’s crazy to think it’s already been a whole year … here’s to fitting a million lifetimes of love into just one.

(In a way that I’m grateful for) I can’t shake this perspective of how fast time moves, of how bittersweet it is to have found a person you want to share everything with (every part of yourself, every experience) but then in these moments of clarity and perspective be struck by the realization that time moves very quickly in hindsight.

In the US, I feel so focused on moving forward, and so determined to shed the inconvenience of my past that I barely stop long enough to sit with the current moment; to actually, fully absorb that this day is the only thing I’ll ever have. Life is these steep Italian staircases, and these milestones are their landings; I’m slowly figuring out how to savor the struggle and take a beat when I get to each level, and in between breaths look out the window to enjoy the view.

8:00pm

Tiny street-level restaurant providing a frame to this new world. This hole-in-the-wall feels integrated into the night life. People are passing by in-and-out of frame. Life feels like it’s being lived.

It feels so nice to be out at night with no specific agenda, amongst others doing the same. Meals, restaurants are so much more social here. It stands in such stark contrast to the pervasive Western attitude of individualism and optimization. They’re all out on the sidewalks, they’re not only focused on themselves. This is as nourishing for the soul as this warm meal.

9:18am

Everything moves at a slower pace here, at its own pace, there’s a lot more casual standing around. The police officers at the Florence airport are socializing amongst each other, one of them is playing tug-of-war with the drug dog. We step outside and everything else is a smaller scale too, the little billboards outside, the height of the buildings, the roadside signs. There is definitely more of a nonchalant attitude; I’m sure after a couple of weeks I’ll find out if that’s the pace here or just my novel read of it.

6:26pm

The internet renaissance will come build on the indie web with referalls, rolodexes, and linkrolls.