Gratitude

Tonight I watched a YouTube video with Dr. Brene Brown talking about the relationship between joy and gratitude.  She explained that practicing gratitude invites joy into our lives.  As I walk through the streets of Florence these last few days I find myself living in a sort of joy, understanding the life I have had that has led me to this point.  When we study abroad we learn about a different culture, exploring it like a sort of magical land.  In the end we find humanity and reality, both much farther from the fantasy that we had envisioned.  But also, studying abroad, for any amount of time in any fashion, is truly a unique opportunity, one that few will be able to participate in.  As I was approaching graduation in the last several months, and then reaching it, I have constantly been challenged to use my degree for something more.  Yes, it is indeed a diploma outlining my academic achievement as an undergrad, but it means so much more.  We are in a country and a culture, that even though education is expensive, people are educated.  We are literate.  So when we continue our education, we also have a responsibility to use it to improve the world in which we live.  The education we work for is bigger than ourselves.  Studying abroad carries a similar responsibility.  We are able to leave the culture and the world that we have known to observe and experience another.  It stretches and strengthens who we are like yoga stretches and strengthens the body.  At first you are uncomfortable, and while in the pose you wonder why you are doing this, but once you come back to center it seems to make sense.  Your feel better, fuller, and almost cleansed.

As I have walked the streets I have wondered how I have practiced gratitude.  Yesterday, I had to buy a new suitcase in one of the outdoor markets.  TSA was so kind as to mutilate the bag I brought with me. I kept walking through thinking where is that stupid stand so I can buy a cheap suitcase so I can pack and go home.  So as I was walking through the market I ended up talking to several people.  I found myself practiciing gratitude so freely in one of the most crowded and stressful places in the city.  And by talking to people, remembering that they too are on a journey somewhere, whether it is through travel or through daily life, I found myself truly grateful.  Two of the vendors I did business with caught me off guard.  The first was a woman selling t-shirts.  I always ask the vendors where they are from, because I just want to talk to someone.  And this woman talked to me.  I mean she really talked to me, even introducing me to her daughter.  Once I found my suitcase by "Suitcase" I was exhausted.  After I haggled the price down to a place I was okay paying for, the man started to talk to me.  And yes, I am guessing part of it is salesmanship.  But I would ungrateful if I brushed it off.

Tomorrow I will see my favorite work of art in all the world.  Since being here I have been submersed in art, a place I willingly go.  Throughout this trip I have seen the work of Michelangelo in such a way that both mirrors his life, but also how I saw some of these works the first time I saw them six years ago.  I remember seeing the Pieta he completed in less than a year when he was just a little older than I am now, and I just melted.  I have seen his second and last Pietas, I have seen the Medici tombs (Dawn and Dusk & Night and Day), I have visited his tomb located in Santa Croce.  Everyday, I find myself moved.  The average person only spends 8 seconds looking at a single piece of art.  When I see art I look at it, I take it in.  And if I can't really take it in, I wait until I can.  I live graciously through art.  And as the trip comes to a close, and I reflect on the art, I find that I have given it its due respect.  Today and this trip I am grateful to have travelled with a dynamic group of women, and a wise professor.  I am grateful to see the work of some of the greatest minds of the Renaissance.  I am grateful that I have been surrounded by people rich in culture and humanity.  And most of all I am grateful for the learning and the knowledge gained.  I will touch down Saturday night knowing a little more about who I am and who I want to be.

Peace, as always,
Caty