{"id":146,"date":"2018-09-01T21:04:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T01:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/?p=146"},"modified":"2020-08-09T14:50:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T18:50:36","slug":"mambo-italiano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/mambo-italiano\/","title":{"rendered":"mambo italiano"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I find myself looking down probably 75 percent of the time.<\/p>\n<p>My eyeballs are a magnet for gravel-laden loose change, and I could likely list every imperfection on the tops of my shoes because I&#8217;ve had plenty of time for memorization.<\/p>\n<p>Being a ground gazer is a habit I\u2019m desperately trying to break.\u00a0Meanwhile, European architecture humbly demands appreciation.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"padding-right: 10px; float: left;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/track\/7DuqCAxfOEKBfQgrnWfHrh\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nEvery column, every buttress, every Baroque adornment quietly whispers to its audience, asking for just a moment, a glance, a jaw fallen in awe. And we curious humans give in without anticipating that one look easily leads to a gawk and a collection of lengthy minutes of staring.<\/p>\n<p>Until recently, it hadn\u2019t occurred to me just quite how many \u00a0photos of ceilings I had on my memory card: the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter&#8217;s Cathedral, Palazzo Reale, the Pantheon.<\/p>\n<p>And to think I would have missed it all if I kept looking at my shoes, admiring my Birkenstock tan.<\/p>\n<p>Wow wouldja look at that: on more than one rare occasion I found myself looking upward.<\/p>\n<p>I think this experience is a metaphor for my life at large: I need to look up more\u2014to a creative God, to inspiring people, to the humbling vastness of this planet. In turn, I would imagine this would reduce my looking down on myself\u2014 my inabilities, my recurring mistakes, my deepest insecurities.<\/p>\n<p>In a glass-half-full analogy, I imagine we\u2019re all constantly looking up from the base, and that alone might explain why we as humans often feel so low.<\/p>\n<p>. . .<\/p>\n<p>I say with the utmost humility I can muster that my family has some incredible people to admire\u2014to look up to, if you will.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-151 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"691\" height=\"1008\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap.jpg 691w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-206x300.jpg 206w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-7x10.jpg 7w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-432x630.jpg 432w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-396x578.jpg 396w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-660x963.jpg 660w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pap-151x220.jpg 151w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 691px) 100vw, 691px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>My 83-year-old grandfather immigrated to the United States when he was just 15, taking a 12-day boat ride across the Atlantic to reach Ellis Island. The feeling of how that act of courage altered not only his life but the lives for generations to come is inconceivable.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve lived my whole life normalizing my European heritage, which entails being called \u201cbella\u201d (translated: \u201cbeautiful\u201d in Italian) more often than my God-given name, family dinners around homemade gnocchi and spending an obscene amount of money on imported cheese.<\/p>\n<p>It took me years to appreciate how very special family history is, but spending five days in Pescocostanzo\u2014a quaint town nestled in the mountains of Italy\u2019s Abruzzi region\u2014solidified my appreciation, my gratitude, my pride.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I finally experienced the beautiful heritage that runs in my veins;\u00a0I felt like I was finally painted in to all the tattered Kodak photos I\u2019d seen for 21 years.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I tasted the crisp air from the mountains, walked along the same cobblestone roads my grandfather trekked across when he was young, heard the ancient church bells chime at the <em>early<\/em> hours of the morning.<\/p>\n<p>Here is where I felt closest to the very-best-version-of-myself, a repeated phrase in the book I brought along on the journey.\u00a0Here is where I felt at home\u2014and for good reason, given the context.<\/p>\n<p>. . .<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-149 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-685x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"957\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-685x1024.jpg 685w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-201x300.jpg 201w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-768x1148.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-7x10.jpg 7w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-432x646.jpg 432w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-396x592.jpg 396w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-1120x1674.jpg 1120w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-660x987.jpg 660w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092-147x220.jpg 147w, http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSC_0092.jpg 1338w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I think everyone needs a humble reminder every now and then of where our story, our very existence, first began\u2014before we were even a thought.<\/p>\n<p>We forget that no matter how far along we are in life, no matter how well or unwell we\u2019ve drawn our path, we can\u2019t erase the lines that came before us\u2014and we shouldn\u2019t want to.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is because of these lines that we have been led to where and who we are.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I yearn to retrieve Europe&#8217;s slower pace. I miss sharing laughter and coffee in good company. I <em>really\u00a0<\/em>crave gelato.<\/p>\n<p>I miss Italy. I think about it\u2014and my family whom I love so much\u2014every day, many times.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>From this point onward, I think I&#8217;ll find myself looking up more often, more confidently and more joyfully to the God who creates humans so intricately, to the universe that weaves us into our pasts and entrusts us with creating our futures.<\/p>\n<p>Because the pastel sky we see everyday is the most beautiful ceiling there ever could be.<\/p>\n<p><em>Feature photo taken by Me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I find myself looking down probably 75 percent of the time. My eyeballs are a magnet for gravel-laden loose change, and I could likely list every imperfection on the tops of my shoes because I&#8217;ve had plenty of time for memorization. Being a ground gazer is a habit I\u2019m desperately trying to break.\u00a0Meanwhile, European architecture [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jordanstovka.com\/steepedinsound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}