For this post, I have begun with a quote by a person other than Ernest Hemingway. Instead, I present a quote by Ernest's daughter, Mariel Hemingway.
While browsing the selection of Hemingway books on Amazon.com to download one onto my Kindle, I came across a free offer for a book titled "Healthy Living on The Inside Out." I thought it was very strange that this book was listed under a search for Hemingway. I noticed that the author's name was Mariel Hemingway, so I merely thought that Amazon was confused and placed a random Hemingway under its selection of Ernest Hemingway's titles. I thought, "why not? It's free, and I can always use a brush-up on healthy living." I downloaded it onto my Kindle and brought it with me on a weekend trip to Alicante, a beach town about a three-hour drive from Madrid (I actually flew).
I had been feeling a lot of craziness and unsettled-ness in my life for some months, and decided to take a solo weekend away to simply enjoy the sun, tranquilize myself, and rejuvinate. On my flight to Alicante, I began to read the book by the "random" Hemingway. Two pages in, it was clear that in fact, she is the daughter of Ernest Hemingway! How could I have been so silly and clueless?
As I delved deeper into her book, I realized that she was on to something with all of her talk about tranquility and balanced living .... she wrote that because she has the Hemingway genes, she has to take extra care to keep a balanced and disciplined life. She realizes that because her genes involve people with enormous personalities, moods, and passion, that if she doesn't want to go down that self-destructive road, she fills every day with meditation, yoga, and careful consciousness to what she places in her body. Her family genes involve addiction and pure madness (after all, though a genius, her father was prone to intense mood swings, intense alcohol consumption, love affairs, and eventual suicide).
It occurred to me that as I had become more and more entranced and infatuated with the life of Ernest Hemingway and the other fiery, passionate artists of that time period in Paris, I had been welcoming more and more of those qualities into my own life. I musn't go into too much deal here about my own life, but as I read Mariel's book, I noticed that I had been acting for many months in a similarly self-destructive, though what I thought was a passionate and alive manner. I had taken on characteristics of the 1920's Paris writers because I was so fascinated by the high's and low's of their personalities. I was mesmerized by the seeming glamour, the extreme living in terms of the "artistic" personalities, and I had convinced myself that the only way to live is to "live big" by feeling constant emotions, by proclaiming love, by doing and feeling too much of everything and with too much intensity.
So gee, I wonder why I needed a very quiet weekend for myself in Alicante? I had not even realized that I had been wearing myself down, bit by bit and piece by piece to a point that I was making myself crazy. As I read Mariel's book, I realized that perhaps I have some inherent qualities within myself that her father had as well (certainly nothing to his extreme), and that like her, I actually need to be careful to keep myself in check. I found myself very affected by her book and since then (two weeks ago), have been very conscious about everything I do. I have found quiet time every day, I have started to do yoga (meditation is still impossible for me as my mind will not stop, but I am trying), and I realize that everything I put into my body truly effects my emotions and my demeanor.
Even though I find it fascinating, the life of the 1920's writers in Paris is really not for me. I cannot keep up, and I know that I am much better, more pleasant, and an overall more balanced and peaceful person when I do things at a slower pace and keep check of how I feel and how I am treating my body and mind. Thank you to Mariel by teaching me that in fact, this is a preferred way of life to the frenetic-ness and downright delirious-ness of the way her father lived.
And with that, I share some photos from ALICANTE....
The beach just before sunset...
Notice a wedding party in the corner...
All out for a stroll whether on foot or by vehicle....
Even though Spaniards often tell me that you will almost never see a Spanish flag because the Spanish Civil War is still such a delicate topic and the flag represents Fransisco Franco, I certainly see loud and proud Spanish flags everywhere....
I met this amazing girl in Alicante. She is from South Carolina, and lives in Madrid like me! We were instant friends... we have so much in common. The most important? We are both Tri Deltas!! We hiked to the highest point of Alicante to view the city and catch the sunset.
How could we resist this opportunity?
While browsing the selection of Hemingway books on Amazon.com to download one onto my Kindle, I came across a free offer for a book titled "Healthy Living on The Inside Out." I thought it was very strange that this book was listed under a search for Hemingway. I noticed that the author's name was Mariel Hemingway, so I merely thought that Amazon was confused and placed a random Hemingway under its selection of Ernest Hemingway's titles. I thought, "why not? It's free, and I can always use a brush-up on healthy living." I downloaded it onto my Kindle and brought it with me on a weekend trip to Alicante, a beach town about a three-hour drive from Madrid (I actually flew).
I had been feeling a lot of craziness and unsettled-ness in my life for some months, and decided to take a solo weekend away to simply enjoy the sun, tranquilize myself, and rejuvinate. On my flight to Alicante, I began to read the book by the "random" Hemingway. Two pages in, it was clear that in fact, she is the daughter of Ernest Hemingway! How could I have been so silly and clueless?
As I delved deeper into her book, I realized that she was on to something with all of her talk about tranquility and balanced living .... she wrote that because she has the Hemingway genes, she has to take extra care to keep a balanced and disciplined life. She realizes that because her genes involve people with enormous personalities, moods, and passion, that if she doesn't want to go down that self-destructive road, she fills every day with meditation, yoga, and careful consciousness to what she places in her body. Her family genes involve addiction and pure madness (after all, though a genius, her father was prone to intense mood swings, intense alcohol consumption, love affairs, and eventual suicide).
It occurred to me that as I had become more and more entranced and infatuated with the life of Ernest Hemingway and the other fiery, passionate artists of that time period in Paris, I had been welcoming more and more of those qualities into my own life. I musn't go into too much deal here about my own life, but as I read Mariel's book, I noticed that I had been acting for many months in a similarly self-destructive, though what I thought was a passionate and alive manner. I had taken on characteristics of the 1920's Paris writers because I was so fascinated by the high's and low's of their personalities. I was mesmerized by the seeming glamour, the extreme living in terms of the "artistic" personalities, and I had convinced myself that the only way to live is to "live big" by feeling constant emotions, by proclaiming love, by doing and feeling too much of everything and with too much intensity.
So gee, I wonder why I needed a very quiet weekend for myself in Alicante? I had not even realized that I had been wearing myself down, bit by bit and piece by piece to a point that I was making myself crazy. As I read Mariel's book, I realized that perhaps I have some inherent qualities within myself that her father had as well (certainly nothing to his extreme), and that like her, I actually need to be careful to keep myself in check. I found myself very affected by her book and since then (two weeks ago), have been very conscious about everything I do. I have found quiet time every day, I have started to do yoga (meditation is still impossible for me as my mind will not stop, but I am trying), and I realize that everything I put into my body truly effects my emotions and my demeanor.
Even though I find it fascinating, the life of the 1920's writers in Paris is really not for me. I cannot keep up, and I know that I am much better, more pleasant, and an overall more balanced and peaceful person when I do things at a slower pace and keep check of how I feel and how I am treating my body and mind. Thank you to Mariel by teaching me that in fact, this is a preferred way of life to the frenetic-ness and downright delirious-ness of the way her father lived.
And with that, I share some photos from ALICANTE....
The beach just before sunset...
Alicante is quite small, though there plenty of beautiful buildings and as is typical of Spain, people on the streets at all moments
The girl in this photo looks like me, but it's not! I took this photo because I loved walking this "paseo" on Sunday morning. Chairs had been placed all along simply for people to sit, chat, and relish the sun. I can't say it enough: The Spaniards are professional bench-sitters. They truly know how to pass a day slowwwwly, yet beautifully.
It almost looks like Beverly Hills....
Coolest Dog Ever....
I met this amazing girl in Alicante. She is from South Carolina, and lives in Madrid like me! We were instant friends... we have so much in common. The most important? We are both Tri Deltas!! We hiked to the highest point of Alicante to view the city and catch the sunset.
We came across this random structure with a beautiful message... "Believe in the Magic and You Will Find It"
Alicante at Sunset
Soon Before Sunset
