How have you all been faring as our worlds open up a bit? While I’m not ready to go off gallivanting or kissing strangers, I am noticing little whiffs of courage and confidence.

The other day a friend mentioned they were doing a quick trip to Florence to see the sites before the tourists returned. It didn’t sound appealing at first but the very next day I had this overwhelming desire to do a quick beach trip and stay in a glamorous hotel. Ideally I wanted to go to where they filmed a favorite Netflix show called Summertime. After negotiating with Michael I settled for a simpler version of the fantasy but I’m still looking forward to the getaway.

I got another burst of confidence earlier today. I saw a post in a Facebook group inviting people to pitch themselves to be a guest on a podcast. I’ve intended to do that for awhile. I’d talk about how I came to be living in Italy and my belief that we can all move toward what we’ve always wanted to do. My podcast is meant to be encouraging– to demonstrate that regular folks do really cool things and can give you some resources so you can too. 

Until now I avoided putting myself out there as spokesperson. Why? Mostly because I’m afraid of sounding inarticulate. On I Always Wanted To I can edit out my filler words and make myself sound my best. But if I’m telling others to go for it I need to do it myself. 

Today felt like the day. I saw the post. I decided to respond. I feel good about it. We’ll see what happens.