I finally decided to get back into painting after almost three years. I had been traveling for awhile and living abroad the past couple of years, so the idea of investing in a new easel, brushes, paints, canvases and other supplies gave me the sense of a little more “permanency,” a feeling I’ve realized I sometimes try to avoid. Not that it’s a bad thing, I just normally think of many phases as short-term or temporary, (like the possibility to pick-up and move to another city or country could happen at any given moment, although my husband tells me I’m not realistic. The Italian culture is a bit less prone to change, if you know what I mean) and I’ve always enjoyed the freedom. I guess allowing myself to settle in (for however long or short we’ll be here in Milan) is part of embracing the seasonal changes (see my posts on “Embracing Life’s Seasonal Changes” and “The Moments In-between“).