glimmers

I did not have to rush today. Sure there were things to do, and even trains to catch, but there was lots of time. I think that was the most beautiful thing about today: Not only was there enough time, but I was aware that there was enough time. I strolled. Walking determinedly (my usual M.O.) gets me places, but strolling is a far more luxuriant way to go.

If that were not lovely enough, I also met a fine man today, a good man, a lovely man. My friend, C, recommended I meet with her friend, Scott, to converse about our mutual dating experience. The goal was to spark anew my writing fervour, to get back on track with the novel that's been sitting on the back burner for almost a year now. Mission accomplished. My fingers are fairly itching to get back to it. This is as much because Scott shared helpful male insight and some great material as because we also talked frankly and passionately about following dreams and pursuing our passions. He helped me remember that I loved writing and love writing still and I feel motivated to make sure that becomes part of my working routines. Like building the buffer zone and carving off the edges, I'm not entirely sure how I'll add writing time, but it's still a worthy goal. It would be most honest to add that I left the meeting with Scott enthusiastic about getting back to my writing, and also a little sad that Scott is not currently single. He really is lovely.

I also finished reading the Italy section of Eat, Pray, Love. Elizabeth Gilbert gained twenty-three pounds enjoying Italy, so you can guess there was a lot of food prose to enjoy. This is part of her concluding comments on the Italian portion of the tale:

"It was in a bathtub back in New York, reading Italian words aloud from a dictionary, that I first started mending my soul. My life had gone to bits and I was so unrecognizable to myself that I probably couldn't have picked me out of a police lineup. But I felt a glimmer of happiness when I started studying Italian, and when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt-- this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight."

Seek truth. Seek beauty.