The 3rd of July
Seattle | Minnesota | Torino
This morning, as I sit in my sun-filled Seattle apartment at the start of a long and lazy holiday weekend, I’m deeply aware of the date. It’s the third time my mother’s birthday has passed by without her, and her presence is very much here with me today.
{ Hey Mom! Don’t worry, everything is exactly as it should be. Are you gong to finally tell me what the other side is like? }
I find myself set adrift in memories of the past few years, which have been in turns:
magnificent, excruciating, complex, productive, and alternately confusing and comforting.
These past few years have brought some of the richest experiences of my life.
I’ve gained and lost loved ones, suffered exquisite heartache,
stumbled through a pandemic, put some life plans on hold while clinging to purpose,
settled in to the deep waters of solitude, and made my way back to my purpose as an artist.
Countless ideas born, some abandoned, the best still in progress.
Nothing more, really, than a long winding road to becoming.
This morning, though, I’m thinking about one of my favorites: 3 July 2019.
Early in my time living and studying with the ICP in Torino, I was pushing myself creatively while absorbing as much information as I could. I was profoundly happy and relieved to be settling back into Italy, spiritual home of my heart, and living every day as big & bright as ever. Moving through some deep and painful life tectonic shifts, my heart was blazing with fire— some times with passion and pleasure, others in anguish. I was fully embodied and connected, I felt once again like myself and so good, and my spirit was wide open.
That time was a melange of late and sleepless nights, new ideas constantly crowding themselves into my consciousness,
intense and epiphanic conversations with brilliant friends and mentors,
steamy afternoons alone in the cemetery, long days working on projects.
Food and laughter and sweat and stolen glances and music and a million city corners with echoing footsteps
… all set against the backdrop of a nearly record-setting European heatwave (though my UK 2003 summer holds the hottest crown).
3 July 2019 was the day a precious friendship was born with my cara Raffaella, now my lifelong sister-friend.
We connected that day, and I revealed to her the sadness I was carrying about my recently departed mother.
We spent the day talking and sharing, and working together as we navigated the midday sun with our cameras;
that night, she showed how summer nightlife looks in Turin’s piazzas. The first of many Torino nights we’ve shared.
That day, two years ago today, changed the course of my life.
And all of that, all that has happened, has led me to this place of profound gratitude.
{ See what I mean, Mom? Exactly as it should be. Thank you for helping to deliver me here. xx }
Above: Right: Lindy-Hop dancers in central Torino.
Below: Photos I took throughout that afternoon and evening, through the sun and the ran and the onset of evening.
Right: With some members of the International Center of Photography’s Visual Storytelling Masterclass @ CameraTorino, July 2019. We attended some phenomenal parties out there on that courtyard. Amazing group of artists. Raffaella Ramondetti is 2nd from left.
Below: Just another spectacular sunset @ Piazza Carlo Alberto, Torino. July 2019.
