)(( hannah mello ))(

Detours <<<<<

I have no idea what this book is, but I like the image from my beloved images.google.com. It reminds me of scandalous late night car rides-- flying over the bumps alongside the Naples sea-walk. Chiaia's lights spilling over the sea. The suberb towns illuminating Vesuvius. Castel Dell'Ovo being a floating candle.

I've been confronted with detours.

I read about the life of Muriel Spark in Marie Claire of all places. Detour drove her to Africa for years longer than she anticipated.
I recently saw the film "Io, Tu e Dupree" = "Me, You and Dupree" with Italian overdubs and for the first time, understood more than what I absorbed visually-- understanding actual phrases, sentences, expressions-- understanding the plot through the actual words... ("in gamba" for example)...

Anyway-- "detours"... while I write this, I'm instant messaging with my friend Bianca about her life detours-- embracing them and falling in love with them. I just read some blog posts from a friend I met during my TEFL course in Greece last year that is finding herself because of detours. Also in the Marie Claire mag there was a travel log from the Amalfi Coast-- sharing stories of pizza in Naples too--> and I was drawn to simmer on the mystery of my detours.

I feel like I'm in preparation for something but the fog is so thick and I see detour signs ahead in my mind-- predicting them-- but not knowing where that detour road leads. I feel like I know what I want but I'm not sure it's what I need.

I get blog updates emailed to me from my dean from university's blog. Steve Smallwood si chiama. Over the last week, every post has really impacted me on this topic of journey. Posts about what kind of employee you should seek to be-- posts about being a bridge-builder, communicating to people of many different lifestyles and identities-- post about the quest to choose a vocation that will be what you need and what is needed a the world of great and real need.

Cheers to this mysterious, messy, confounding/dumbfounding journey.

posted by )(( hannah mello ))( @ 12:11 PM