tunnels
revisited
when I lost my website last summer – and freaked out - my husband eric worked painstakingly to retrieve its material. i was especially concerned about my 550+ blog posts that spanned over 15 years. a lot of time and thinking and energy (and writing!) had gone into those published words.
he did eventually manage to save and transfer everything over here, to my new substack site. but the formatting is, of course, distorted. and some of the organization disorganized. slightly broken and not altogether pleasant to view, yet the relevant message in each of my posts remains. so i’ve been slowly weeding through them, trying to fix things where i can, if only for my own peace of mind. since it’s not very much fun, i am attacking it in small increments.
the real surprise? i’ve been amazed to find that so much of what i’d written through the years still resonates with me today, still carries meaning. and for that reason, i have decided to share one of those timeless posts with you today.
setting the stage: in november of 2020, eric and i boarded an almost-empty jet in milan with our cat harlowe. at the time all we wanted to do, following our months-long lockdown experience in italy, was travel to the states and reunite with our sons. we ended up buying the pink house, wrestling with many life decisions, and staying much longer than planned . . . a strange and surreal two-year hiatus. this piece conjures up some of the angsty-and-confused feelings i experienced during that unpredictable era, an example of those transitional in-between moments i never feel comfortable in but have to deal with nonetheless. (tunnels was originally published in october 2022 - one month after we finally returned to our italian home.)
i am fascinated with tunnels
there are many in italy
throughout the european continent
and going through one
becomes a commonplace event
when traveling anywhere
i think they’re interesting
even strikingly beautiful at times
they remind me of spy novels
and they make the best photos
i don’t always love being
inside a tunnel though
especially when it’s miles long
oh, it’s not horrible, not impossible,
to be in there, and the darkness
offers a unique perspective
but it can be slightly uncomfortable
emerging out the other side
back into the bright sunshine
always seems to elicit a
silent sigh of relief
a tunnel is such a metaphor for life
leaving your past, heading
towards your future
a symbol of the paths
you might take
and the challenges you might
encounter along the way
moving through darkness
pushing through obstacles
beginnings and endings
with light and hope, reassurance,
waiting just beyond
evolving over the course of your journey
your very own metamorphosis story
this small glimpse into my continuing story illustrates something we all, as human beings, encounter again and again » our endless adaption to the ups-and-downs of life. our resilience.