A Villa of One's Own

Thursday, February 15, 2007

I've been chasing a dream for the past five years and since it's taking so long to realize, I do, from time to time, wonder if I'm totally nuts. I purchased a property in Italy that needs complete restoration, and not being rich, I've had to follow a start-and-stop regimen that typically leaves me either elated or frustrated depending on what mode the work is in. The thing that keeps me going is envisioning that first alfresco dinner in my garden, under the fig and cherry trees, overlooking the magnificent panorama of hills and rivers, surrounded by the colorful Italian acquaintances I've been accumulating with every subsequent visit, my global network of friends and colleagues who are either full or part-timers in Italy, and the loved ones I can entice to travel there, as I did a few years ago for a big birthday celebration. This house has become like a child - it has to a great extent determined the direction of my life, it consumes my financial resources and it embodies my dreams for the future. In New York I couldn't buy a parking space; but in Italy, I am a landowner. There is a great sense of identification and empowerment tied into owning a house and a piece of land; a place that is yours to live in or open up to others; to build and decorate in ways that are meaningful to you; to make beautiful and productive; even to sell when the time comes and recoup your investment. And when the journey takes time and is full of stops and starts, there are countless opportunities to learn lessons about life, choices, resourcefulness, persistence and resolve, attitude and beliefs. You can't really learn this stuff from reading books. I may be nuts, but one of my favorite quotes has always been "If you believe you can do something, begin it; boldness has power, magic and genius in it". Just don't be too attached to expectations of what will happen after you begin - you can never know; but you can be grateful for the opportunities that follow.