My favorite birthday tradition since moving here has been grabbing a free medium gelato from my favorite Italian place.

When I went to Italy in 2018 as a newly single woman, I was pleasantly surprised that their gelato tasted exactly like this!  Pappalecco truly is authentic.  I have been looking forward to this treat all week.  It has always been familiar, comforting, and nostalgic.  The gentleman who served me was friendly and cute.  I took my first bite and… I mean, it was still delicious, but… it wasn’t AS good as I remember.  My mind immediately started reeling:  What’s wrong with me?  Has it really been that long since I have had this?  Did their recipe change?  Did my tastebuds change?  Is it a combination of both?

Took me a few moments to settle into my body and actually enjoy this free treat.  I just turned 31, and I know I have completed my first Saturn Return.  (Pretty interesting stuff, look it up if you don’t know about this concept!)  Life lately feels EXACTLY like this gelato moment – seeing old situations through new eyes, questioning everything, and eventually settling in/grounding into my current truth.  Every moment is a new moment, because I am a new person:  My sharp mind is constantly firing off new and different neurons.  My agile body is constantly replacing and renewing my cells.  My young heart is constantly pumping new blood through my system.  My wise yoni is constantly creating new juices.  My worldview is constantly shifting, because all my experiences are updating my internal system.  

As much as I am creating new things, I am also returning home to ancient and inherent knowings.

This is one of my favorite quotes by Heraclitus:  “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”  

I am changed by the world, and the world is changed by me.  No meal is ever the same.  No dessert is ever the same.  No moment is ever the same.  Life is as simple, as complex, as bittersweet, and as beautiful as that.