Life is too short,
So,
Kiss slowly,
Laugh insanely,
Love truly
And forgive quickly
I pushed open the heavy wooden doors of an eight hundred year old church of a rural abbey in southern Tuscany. For a moment I could see nothing. The fragrance of incense was overpowering. As my eyes gradually adjusted to the dimness, I could make out the blur of frescoes on the medieval stone washed walls. An immense statue towered in front of me. I could hear the flapping of the wings of birds.
Next to me, a man kneeled, and in one fluid motion he bent over, his forehead to the floor. A sudden shaft of sunlight crossed the terra cotta floor. Smoke from the incense made the light palpable. Slowly, a white feather drifted down…
The Ambulatory of Sant'Antimo Church
In this silence, broken only by the rustle of the monk’s robe, I stopped and listened. Time expanded as I looked around. It was the moment that justified thousands of miles of travel, when all my senses came alive as I drank in the scene.
At that moment of awakening, I felt a burning desire to take the traveler’s eye into my everyday environment. I imagined transferring the intensity I felt in an exotic situation to the experience of first entering a room… My heightened senses key into the sounds and sights of a new place, and I became aware of how light hits the floor and how shadows collect in the corners.
I came to understand the soul of a space…
Hi, my name is Sophia. For many years I was busily caught up in chasing after my “American dream”, working a sixty-hour week in a stuffy, airless cubicle. I was glued to my ‘ergonomic’ chair staring at the computer screen all day long, eating lunch at my desk and making “play dates” with my daughter. Obsessed with becoming more successful, I was depriving myself the one thing I foolishly believed I was rushing towards – the good life.
At some point, the “good life” became some distant, imaginary finish line that could only be reached through psychotic effort. I had become no more than an overly caffeinated hamster on a wheel; constantly running, sweating, and sacrificing. I started wondering if there was something wrong with this master plan. Could there be some lost key to the kingdom of happiness that I had overlooked? If life is a journey, mine was heading in the wrong direction.
I was awakened from this miserable slumber in Tuscany. Surrounded by tranquil landscapes, lovingly tended vineyards, olive groves and lush vegetable gardens, I came back to life. Savoring long mouth-watering meals, crusty loaves of bread, and robust Tuscan wine I admired the rustic simplicity of the sun-drenched countryside.
My observations of the locals and their daily lives, helped me realize that in Italy, and above all in Tuscany, the epitome of ‘the good life’ seems to reside. It was impossible not to get captivated by the richness and quality of daily Tuscan life which is not just lived, but thoroughly enjoyed.
So, I started this blog as a source of inspiration for overworked, ambitious, goal-orientated people who forget to relax and enjoy life. It is a gentle reminder of the boundless joy in living, the thrill of simple things, the daily celebrations, the pleasure of physical beauty, social togetherness, and, of course, of good food and wine.
Let’s take a deep breath and look around. Let’s look at our homes in a whole new light – as a sanctuary that heals the body, calms the mind, and soothes the soul. This blog is a source of inspirational ideas for turning your home into a haven and refuge from the stressful world.
Just as Tuscan food and wine are rooted in a myriad of things beyond the kitchen and cellar, so the quality of life is a vast combination of daily details. Each ingredient must be of quality for all of it to work.
I invite you to slow down and relax… Let’s enjoy the delicious, little things that make life fun and worth living!
Sophia
