What are you reading for fun these days? How do you “fill the well” during these weird times we’re in? I love to read….but I’m not one to rush through any of the books I do read. In fact, in my book club, I think I am the slowest reader, probably because I like to savor every page. One of my favorite genre’s is the travel memoir . It gets me all excited about places I can hardly wait to visit, and mindful of circumstances I want to avoid! Mostly, it is like sitting down with an old friend and hearing the tales of their travel adventures. I love this! And conversations about our favorite places to travel. This one I’m currently savoring is, “Four Seasons in Rome”, written by Anthony Doerr (author of All the Light We Cannot See). His choice of words is so beautiful, I find myself wrapped up in the spell of this place. I’ve been to Rome twice before in my life, about a week each time; once with my hubby back in 1985, and again with my daughters around April of 2007. They were minoring in Italian in college, so it was doubly fun having two interpreters there with me at the time!!

I also love collecting quotes that I find fascinating. One that really struck me in this book was, “ Every timidity eventually turns into regret.” I find that true on so many levels. Times when I was too scared to try. Or thought it might be too much trouble, or too much money, or time, or that I didn’t have enough talent, moxie, energy, knowledge, guts, etc. I’ve since learned to consider those negative voices….and then show them the door. They don’t get to live in my head any more. They try to enter, and I listen, consider, and then kindly release then without any ‘to-do’. This can involve my art, my business, my faith, my continuing education, my travel; heck - everything in life. When I approach things with timidity, yes- that usually turns into regret.

Doerr’s story is quite fascinating. He won an opportunity for a literary fellowship at the American Academy in Rome….which lasts a whole year! At the time, his wife had recently given birth to twin boys! As a mom of grown twin daughters, I can’t even get my head around all that they went through to make this happen! Yes, raising twins is a great blessing, but it’s challenging in the best of circumstances. How brave, how fulfilling this turned out to be! (This is where he wrote All the Light We Cannot See). I loved every page of this story!

What negatives are you releasing into the world, so that you can say YES to something positive that’s been calling to you? A challenging class? a travel opportunity, a new lifestyle? a new phase of life? a new painting style? eating healthy? Whether it’s big or small, or in between. Remember the relationship between timidity and regret.