Morning Walks

The one ritual that we’ve developed at this stage in the Art Monastery Project is that some of us get up at 7:30 am and go for a walk. Mostly it’s JuliaCesare and me, but sometimes Mystophur comes too. We walk along the winding country roads, picking a new side road each morning. We take Sundays off.

This morning JuliaCesare is in Rome and I got up to have the walk by myself. It’s drizzling and wet, but fairly warm. With each step I felt my hip flexors opening up, warming, and becoming more dynamic. A warm feeling of power gradually travelled up my spine. I noticed the air movement between my ring and pinky fingers as my hands swung with each stride.

The fact is, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Mystophur and I are planning the wedding, the fundraising tour of the USA, the publicity materials in both English and Italian, the bando. The entire Alpha Team is working every day of the week from before breakfast to after dinner. We meet new people every day who jump into the project, volunteering their services. Still it seems like an awful lot.

At night I lie in bed and wonder about my upcoming solo show at the Diego Rivera Gallery at SFAI. I install that thing on April 27, the day after my 32nd birthday. My original proposal is no longer feasible: to install a 16-foot diameter above-ground swimming pool in the gallery; to build bleachers around it; to do a synchronized swimming performance at the opening reception; to project the video documentation of that performance down onto the surface of the water for the remaining week of the installation.) It has become clear to me that the thing to do is to present the Art Monastery Project. What would be really spectacular is to find a way to have the SF fundraiser event in the Diego with my installation. This morning it all seems possible. There is so much material — this website & blog, the hundred of images of Calvi & the monastery, the art projects we have planned for this summer, the document we’ve been slaving over to describe those projects, the business plan, the floor plans of the renovations, the Gregorian chant of Christopher’s groups, the Baroque ensemble La Monica with Phoebe, the history of the nuns dedicated to education, my plan to transform the 1730s cistern into a synchronized swimming performance space. There’s so much material here. I just have to figure out how to present it.

Deep breath.
We can do this.

Just an example: I discovered a folder of BenVenuto’s photos that I never published anywhere. They’re of neighboring towns we visiting a week or two after arriving here in January. Seems forever ago now!
Click the image below to see the slideshow.The one ritual that we’ve developed at this stage in the Art Monastery Project is that some of us get up at 7:30 am and go for a walk. Mostly it’s JuliaCesare and me, but sometimes Mystophur comes too. We walk along the winding country roads, picking a new side road each morning. We take Sundays off.

This morning JuliaCesare is in Rome and I got up to have the walk by myself. It’s drizzling and wet, but fairly warm. With each step I felt my hip flexors opening up, warming, and becoming more dynamic. A warm feeling of power gradually travelled up my spine. I noticed the air movement between my ring and pinky fingers as my hands swung with each stride.

The fact is, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. Mystophur and I are planning the wedding, the fundraising tour of the USA, the publicity materials in both English and Italian, the bando. The entire Alpha Team is working every day of the week from before breakfast to after dinner. We meet new people every day who jump into the project, volunteering their services. Still it seems like an awful lot.

At night I lie in bed and wonder about my upcoming solo show at the Diego Rivera Gallery at SFAI. I install that thing on April 27, the day after my 32nd birthday. My original proposal is no longer feasible: to install a 16-foot diameter above-ground swimming pool in the gallery; to build bleachers around it; to do a synchronized swimming performance at the opening reception; to project the video documentation of that performance down onto the surface of the water for the remaining week of the installation.) It has become clear to me that the thing to do is to present the Art Monastery Project. What would be really spectacular is to find a way to have the SF fundraiser event in the Diego with my installation. This morning it all seems possible. There is so much material — this website & blog, the hundred of images of Calvi & the monastery, the art projects we have planned for this summer, the document we’ve been slaving over to describe those projects, the business plan, the floor plans of the renovations, the Gregorian chant of Christopher’s groups, the Baroque ensemble La Monica with Phoebe, the history of the nuns dedicated to education, my plan to transform the 1730s cistern into a synchronized swimming performance space. There’s so much material here. I just have to figure out how to present it.

Deep breath.
We can do this.

Just an example: I discovered a folder of BenVenuto’s photos that I never published anywhere. They’re of neighboring towns we visiting a week or two after arriving here in January. Seems forever ago now!
Click the image below to see the slideshow.