#1 Something new and shiny

Let’s get started shall we

Hello friend,

I love doing something new. There was a time when I was younger; I used to be anxious about everything, and my perfectionism and shyness always got in the way. But now that I've reached my 'midlife' years, I'm much less concerned about making a fool of myself. I think, what the hell? Life's short, so why not spend it doing something challenging, new and exciting?

This newsletter sounded like one of those big impossible New Year resolutions to maintain, but I'm excited about sitting down and writing for you.

I'm enthusiastic that these words will be read by someone interested in my work rather than a random person on the internet or my mother. I feel blogging and internet content writing to be a bit creepy. You never really know who is reading.

When I got the idea of writing a newsletter, the main appeal was the fact that whoever decides to subscribe to read along would be someone who has read something else from me, whether that be a blog post, an Instagram caption or anything else I have written. You have remembered either the content or the creator, i.e., me.

Now that's appealing. It means you are interested in what I am saying. Perhaps I was exceptionally helpful or witty? Maybe we were in the same class in high school? Or you've been stalking me on Facebook? Either way, we've had some connection (real or imaginary).

In this strange new social network-dominating time, we are all making these new virtual connections, which never used to exist in past generations. It's an exciting new world. As long as I don't accidentally give away my home address or credit card details, we can all be friends, right?

However, you have found your way here, and I'm happy you are here. I hope to give you a few laughs, make you feel relaxed and keep you company for a little bit.

When I was a teenager, I used to keep a daily diary but being a teenager, I found the whole process a little dull. I didn't have that much to say, and I got the impression that daily life can be pretty tedious and repetitive. And, of course, being a teenager meant I quickly got bored and stopped.

These days, scribbling and writing have become part of my daily routine and work. Last year I began doing what is known as 'morning pages', a writing activity created by creativity expert Julia Cameron who wrote the Artists way, a bible for anyone who wants to connect to their creativity. Morning pages are a series of blank pages filled with random uncensored thoughts first thing in the morning to warm up your creative muscles.

Since I am a writer, I found several sections, amongst the nonsense of my random thoughts poured out onto the page, to be quite good, worthy of being shared and surprisingly filled with wisdom. Not to be arrogant or anything about it, but my train of thought is this: any opinion or idea or concept that is robust enough to make it through the gauntlet of my quite deadly self-critic is usually strong enough to exist in this world. I am my own worst critic. I can't tell you how many words I have discarded and massacred throughout the years to improve my writing. It's all a part of the process of being a writer.

I use my camera like I’d use a notebook. I record little details and notes, things I’ve noticed or want to remember for later. I photograph small things that catch my eye, a particular design or pattern which seems unusual. It could be a texture that catches my eye or how the sunlight hits a tree and makes a specific shape. Sometimes I take a photo of something I’ve not seen ever before.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I have written many books with my photography. I’ve used photos to document my experiences in Sicily over the last two decades and have an impressive archive of thousands of images.

Looking back over the files, I can see my love for Sicily’s art, landscape, architecture, history, textures, sunlight and culture in every image. There is such a rich tapestry of things to see, it would take many lifetimes to experience all of Sicily’s reflections.

I want to share my photos and tell you more about them. It will be fun to give you the background and context of some of my favourite snaps. It’ll be fascinating to tell you more about my experiences on the island.

I took this photo last summer at Monreale outside of Palermo. There is a monastery attached to the main church of Monreale, which is the main attraction with its mosaic-soaked walls.

In amongst gawking at the mosaics I noticed this fascinating wall at the entrance to a side chapel, near the front altar of the church. The side chapel is closed to the public, but the view of the art on the plain white wall completely enthralled me. It was as if I was peaking into the Vatican. The door was opened but cordoned off with a barrier so that I couldn’t go in. People were walking past on the other side of the wall, going to and from different doors. It looked like there were offices on the other side.

The entire wall was covered in various religious-themed pictures, each in a golden frame. It was like something out of a museum. If I ever worked in offices with such a decorative wall, I would have to stop and look at it every day. Each frame held within it a different Saint or Bible story.

Above all others, the frame that caught my gaze was the dark cave of Santa Rosalia, the patron Saint of Palermo. The hermit Saint lies within her cave on Monte Pelligrino, experiencing religious ecstasy with a glowing halo as angels take her to heaven.

The golden orb around her head is a real contrast to the dank, deep shadows of her cave. You can go and see where her body was found on Monte Pelligrino; today, there is a statue which mimics how she was found, preserved after many years had passed. Just like this picture, young, innocent and blissfully with God.

The glow of St Rosalia reminded me of the Italian word for halo: aureola which is literally the luminious or metatic light that surrounds the head of pagan divinities, Christ and saints. The halo of Rosalia, shine like gold in the gloom, her aura of divine goodness overcoming the night.

Palermo’s little rose saint, Rosalia, is one of Sicily’s most beloved icons, and her image can be found all around Sicily. But after a day of looking at golden Byzantine mosaics at Monreale, Rosalia surprised me the most. She shone much brighter amongst the darkness that surrounded her and etched herself in my memory.

I hate to be long-winded, so that I will stop here for now.

I'll try to share something worthwhile, well thought out and new here every week, perhaps more often if I get frisky or in some kind of karmic writing zone.

This is a sparkly new newsletter, so I'll be trying out some new things over the next couple of weeks to test out some ideas I have to add more value and structure. So be patient with my experiments, and please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for subscribing, and be sure to send this to a friend or someone you think might enjoy it.

Speak again soon.

With love and light

from RDB

P.S.: If you are enjoying this free newsletter, why not consider subscribing to my paid version too, which is currently dedicated to my travel memoir, Sicilian Descent. You will get a weekly serialised version of my book exclusively for you.

Later down the track, I hope to offer you more exclusive content, artwork, zines, podcasts and any other new creative content that might take my fancy. So be sure to enjoy the fun and help this creator create more for you.

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