#100 One hundred reasons not to do something

it's still only the beginning

Hello friend,

First, just let me give myself a high five while giving myself a pat on the back for getting to my 100th post on this newsletter.

It seems I've been flexible enough to keep writing every week here while also being distracted by everyday life and responsibilities.

And also persistently sabotaging myself. It appears being creative brings a good dose of self-criticism and negativity.

How ironic that the sensitive, creative artist can create something out of their imagination but then simultaneously manage to convince himself his creation isn't worthy or, worse still, is able to paralyze himself with self-doubt and never start in the first place. It seems the artistic type needs to be so terribly self-aware to be creative, yet that very self-awareness can hold them back.

Even though I've been feeling the cold in the freezing weather in January and February of the Italian winter. I can still appreciate these blackbird days, the darkest and coldest of the year (29th, 30th and 31st of January). There is something magical about the cold, I appreciate it so much more than the summer. Who knew I’d grow to love dressing in layers, sipping on herbal tea and sitting in front of the woodfire.

The annual commemoration of the Holocaust always gives this time of year a certain sombre sadness and melancholy, which is heightened by recent events. Yet it is important never to forget this dark and hateful part of history, it’s dangerous to think people are starting to forget.

Then we have the ushering of the winter through the Mercanti della Neve, the succession of Saint Day celebrations that help us navigate the darkness. From San Mauro (15 January), San Antonio Abate (17 January), San Bassiano (19 January), San Sebastiano (20 January), San Biagio (3 February) and of course our beloved Sicilian Sant'Agata (4 February). 

I love the stories of the Saints, some are violent, others are pure fantasy while all give can give us a sense of awe and faith in these special humans that have become legends still celebrated all over the world, which is something magical in itself.

And the ancient Roman celebration that echoes the American Groundhog Day, 2 February, the Candelora. Per la Candelora: se nevica o se plora dell’inverno semo fora, ma se plora e tira vento semo dentro. (For the Candelora, if it snows and rains, we are at the end of winter, but if it rains and is windy, we are still in winter for another 40 days). For the record, we still have 40 more days!

Photo by Helena Jankovičová Kováčová

Amongst all of these Saintly commemorations and traditions, we also have Carnevale, which always seems like a celebration that's so out of place with the season. This month of partying is as if the world is ending, and everyone is given permission to party like there's no tomorrow.

Even though its origins are purely religious, as the word itself Carne - vale insinuates, these are the last days before Lent, which is a time of prayer and fasting, when people used to give up eating meat - so better make the most of it because the meat's leaving for the next 40 days before Easter.

I've never understood the excessiveness of Carnevale; people go crazy. It's positively schizophrenic. Sure, you can have big celebrations filled with traditional costumes, elaborate parades and performances in places like Venice, Viareggio, Acireale, Sciaccia and Sardegna.

But small-town Carnevale is about dressing up in costumes and gradually getting increasingly drunk as the homemade floats wind their way around the towns. Perhaps I've never been one to appreciate a party; I'm too much of a control freak, I guess.

But, it's strange when you see your accountant dressed in drag, complete with fishnet stockings or your dentist yee-hawing and line dancing while dressed like a cowboy.

All because every joke, revelry, disguise and behaviour is permitted - people get a free pass to misbehave, dress up, pretend to be someone else and have fun, just for the hell of it. Indeed, anyone can appreciate a little bit of hedonism at least once a year. 

It seems a strange juxtaposition for the beginning of the year. All of these traditions, celebrations and weather are mixed with the current state of the world. It's only been a month, and I'm already exhausted.

The Holocaust is being echoed through the actions of terrorists. 

In Italy, we saw Ilaria Salia, an Italian lady who was arrested for protesting in Hungary a year ago, being taken to court for trial with hands and feet bound in chains and with a leash like a dog.

Farmers protest throughout Italy and Europe as they can no longer live with agricultural work, and the markets are slowly killing their farms. As their tractors block the highways. It makes me wonder how something as vital as growing food has gradually become insignificant in the modern world. 

How easily we've lost our historical memories, how atrocities happen every day and how people's lives are so easily held in the balance by world economic markets.

It is all so overwhelming, makes you feel so small and insignificant, really. It's like we've lived a whole year in the first month of 2024.

A perfect meme for last month.

So, let's scale everything down for now and try not to get ahead of ourselves.

Let's hope humanity finds a way of seeing reason and resolving inhumanity. I know it's difficult, but the world needs a little faith, even when it feels impossible.

We do what we can in our little lives to make things better and spread love, understanding, gratefulness and mindfulness in our circles. In the hope we are heard, listened to and appreciated.

I hope you are surviving because we are still only at the beginning. 

I know there are a hundred reasons not to do anything, but we can find one thing to make and share with others. This newsletter is mine.

Well, that's all from me this week, in Italy.

I will speak to you next time.

All the best from Rochelle

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About me

My name is Rochelle Del Borrello (@rochelledelborrello), and I'm a writer based in Sicily, Italy. Over the past decade, I've been writing about Sicily online, as a travel writer and on my blog. 

I am the only blog regularly publishing articles about local travel and everyday life in my part of Sicily, so I like to think my perspective is unique. I always try to give you a truthful sense of this Mediterranean island without being too touristy or romanticized.

I started 'A Load off my Mind' to share more of my writing, thoughts, and discoveries directly and regularly with you. 

My newsletter shares what is happening in my creative life in Sicily—part slice of life and part travel memoir, with my philosophical yet honest point of view.

You'll be reading along in my diary to see a small piece of my personal journey and life in Italy.

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