BALANCE
quantifying every moment that cannot be shared with everyone at one time. Perhaps it is the human desire to belong and to feel settled. Perhaps it is the crackling tension around the world— the constant news of terror attacks, mass killings, rape and sexual assault, dirty campaign tactics, etc.— surely enough to remove any sense of guarantee. With the entire world seeming to dangle from tenterhooks, it has become more rare to find secure and calm moments.
A FORTRESS OF FAMILY
“ How is Siena? Happy to be back with your contrada?” my best friend’ s text read. She had calculated the time difference between the
States and Italy and knew that by now, I was set up in my little flat for the summer.
The medieval Tuscan city is divided into 17 contrade or“ districts”, one of which( La Nobil Contrada del Bruco) baptized both my mother and I as official members. While not a religious ceremony, this induction is historically a reserved birthright for those native to the city. Thus, to be welcomed solely based on a mutual feeling of love and connection with those in the contrada— which, by simplest definition, is a large family— was not only an unheard of honor, but a lifealtering moment.
Thanks to this unique connection and Siena’ s culture of family, unity, and respect, roaming the ancient roads and being welcomed as a local has been natural since the age of 10. After every school year in the United States, the medieval fortress and promise of a“ welcome home” awaited on the horizon of the Chianti hills. Perhaps this is why moving abroad and living alone for the first time at 20 years old was an effortless transition.
Grinning, I hastily typed,“ Never better, saw everyone for dinner and am starting work tomorrow. Better than happy, I feel peaceful!”
That epiphany arrived when I was walking back from the district’ s headquarters after one of the weekly dinners. As I passed down the cobblestone streets, I realized that here— a place