Weekly blog #158: Discovering what it really is that you want

And just like that, my first two weeks in Milan are already over. At times, it seems like two months have passed already, given the number of things I’ve already done. There was an elegant premiere night, my first Candlelight concert, the reunion with three friends who all welcomed me with open arms, Halloween, an evening at the theatre and a birthday dinner in a restaurant with very particular dishes (read: a tiramisu in the shape of a Cuban cigar served in a cigar box with headphones playing Cuban music). That’s typical Milan, I dare say, the city where all classics become trendy.

It was my body that was calling me to slow down

But in the past few days, I started to have fever and flu symptoms. Immediately, I knew I had to surrender to it: it was my body that was calling me to slow down. I had no other choice than to cancel my planned weekend in Rome – with pain in my heart however – so I could get some well needed rest. Because I also knew the calm is not going to last very long…

I promised you that I would elaborate on those elements that I was looking for when I was shaping this new life in Milan

Before I tell you what the schedule looks like for the weeks to come, let me take you back to my blog from last week. I promised you that this week I would elaborate on those elements that I was looking for when I was shaping this new life in Milan. I already mentioned that the Italian language played a big role. But of course, that was not all.

It takes a lot of courage to acknowledge all of those feelings in the first place, and even more courage to follow through on them

The best thing about getting older and accumulating more and more experiences is that with every day that passes, you know yourself better. You know what you want, and therefore also what you don’t want. However, it takes a lot of courage to acknowledge all of those feelings in the first place, and even more courage to follow through on them, especially when it doesn’t seem to make sense. But that’s precisely the beauty of it: your intuition has nothing to do with logic or with making lists of pros and cons.

In my life, things are often grand, dramatic and compelling, and usually not very practical, no matter if we’re speaking about my choice of shoes or planning a holiday

And so, I discovered that I always want to be right there where the action is, where things are happening. This makes me an extrovert par excellence: someone who recharges from social stimuli rather than the other way around. I don’t like “ordinary” and mediocrity, and even for the simplest of dinners I prepare the table with a beautiful linen tablecloth, matching napkins and fresh flowers. In my life, things are often grand, dramatic and compelling, and usually not very practical, no matter if we’re speaking about my choice of shoes or planning a holiday. I am a dreamer, but I always dream big. So big that I used to dismiss my dreams as too big, and I didn’t even dare to speak them out loud. For as normal as it might seem now, moving to another country on my own and being able to speak fluent Italian were also dreams that once seemed unreachable.

I want to feel deeply connected to all that is Italian around me. With the Italy that extends far beyond Milan

When planning my move to Milan, I realised that I want to surround myself with people who also dream big and dare to follow up on those dreams. Whatever type of work I was going to do; I want to be “there where things are happening”. Being out and about, meeting lots of people. Presenting, welcoming people and giving them a good time. Not working by myself, not having to spend all week in an office, and certainly not working long days from home (boring!). I want creativity combined with ambition and I am at my happiest when surrounded by music and bellezza, beauty. I love an international environment, but above all I want to feel deeply connected to all that is Italian around me. With the Italy that extends far beyond Milan.

There’s one thing in particular that I want the audience to do: to wholeheartedly surrender to the music

The job I started a fortnight ago brings together a lot of what I was looking for. We organise concerts all over Italy: from Bologna to Palermo, from Florence to Naples, and everywhere in between. The concerts take place in the most beautiful and small-scale venues – think gorgeous Baroque villas and lavishly decorated palazzos – and with the most talented Italian artists. I am going to be on the road all over Italy, and soon I will be hosting one such concert. There’s one thing in particular that I want the audience to do: to wholeheartedly surrender to the music. Because it’s precisely when you lose yourself completely in the melodies that you come closer to yourself than ever. Closer to your own desires and dreams, that are just waiting for you to fulfil them. And that’s how it can happen that you suddenly discover your path leads to Milan, as it did in my case. To Milan, but also to Genova, Madrid and Bologna. And all that in the next two weeks! Well, I already told you the calm wasn’t going to last very long, didn’t I? But by now, you know I don’t mind it at all…