)(( hannah mello ))(

(sharing the mundane. )

i spent today in the center of naples with piergiuseppe. i don't think i've ever had so much silence with a person before. it's such a normal, mundane thing-- being together in silence. a quiet river of people walking all around-- feeling much like fishes in a school of fishes-- being pushed and squeezed between shoulders and then out again into the more open flow of shoppers and bundled up sight-seers. laughs burst from us in between people-watching moments. we flowed into stores looking for a present for his sister-- and i tried on bracelets as a breathing model. we screamed in front of a camera to get free movie tickets to a scary movie. literally. it was randomly exhilarating.

my favorite writing lately has been that which highlights the mundane. amos lee's song 'colors', muriel spark's short story 'the snobs', the hbo sitcomb 'curb your enthusiasm'. i've always loved the beginning sequences of the french film 'amile' where the director highlights the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the characters. their likes and dislikes. what's attractive, interesting, and comfortable for them. it's hilarious because we all have those and we don't talk about them & we live as if they didn't exist.

there's something profoundly simple when it comes to the mundane in relationships.

i guess i mean that there is simply treasure in sharing the mundane. it's underrated. it's complicated with all of the publicity for glitz and glamour in relationships-- thanks to our ever-deceiving hollywood.

roughly, i'd say 90% of life is mundane. and in turn, 90% of our relationships, if they're authentic, are moments of routines intersecting and overlapping. moments of bore and moments of spice alike.

i guess i have, in my youthful naivete, chased a glittering life. after a bit of experience's teaching, i have found such flavor in simplicity.

it's funny. i cooked for piero a while back and during the process, he was whining at how much spice i was throwing on the tomatoes to top the pasta. gotta watch the italians. they are particular with their cuisine. :) his argument was that spice takes away from the flavour of the tomato. :) it was funny hearing that coming from a boy.

i found this pin on the ground in pomigliano. crazy too-- since amore is in english in italia. i've been doing a lot of thinking about what love is.

i am surprised at love. my 65 year old housemate peter says the two oldest lies in the world are: 2) 'the check is in the mail' and 1) 'i love you'. i chuckled at him-- his sarcastic delivery always is entertaining. however, both 'lies' have to do with love.

maybe...
love cannot be: forced, projected, saved for later, imitated, borrowed, or directed randomly.
love can be: ignored, manipulated, dirtied and blurred by overhandling/over-processing/over-analyzing, or called something else by the voice of fear.
love must be: held, quiet, listened to, enjoyed, and valued.

peter also says: we spend 99 years learning and growing only to die at 100 knowing nothing. yes, sounds depressing. i have a henry david thoreau quote framed in my room (which i didn't understand when i framed it, but hoped i would in time): 'experience is in the fingers and the head. the heart is inexperienced.'

somehow i am learning what thoreau was referring to. emotions cannot mature. they are what they are and always will be. unfortunately they're loud, tangible, and always jump in front of your view-- overtaking consciousness.

i love the raw, natural make-up of love. it connects our humanity. i love that. i love our humanity. the earthy, dusty, messy-when-wet stuff we're made of. human dust is beautiful when it's shaped redemptively and artistically with another life's dust.

________________

p.s. >> i'll post photos of naples soon because the city is definitely sparkling with lights strung from side to side of streets. there was a musical in piazza de gesu by santa chiara monestary the other day. --> and there are traditional precepes (nativity scenes) that depict the birth of jesus in the midst of napolitan life. so cool. later. later.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 12:04 PM