"Journey Without a Map" Delia Ephron's Personal Siracusa Revisted - US Vogue August 2016

You are probably wondering why am I choosing to post a picture of the sea? On first glance it does not really connect to the idea of chic, fashion and style. My blog is more than that. It is not a blog like all the others. Same goes for me. I think it is important to preserve your self, your values no matter what and not to sell out. I am an advocate for quality. Hear me out and listen to the story:

I have been reading an article by Delia Ephron in US Vogue's August 2016 issue titled "Journey Without a Map" leading with a similar picture like the above showing Siracusa, which is in southeastern Sicily. My usual reading starts something like this: I begin and and feel bored, unconnected and consider stopping and leaving but then by an inner force that guides me, I persist enquiring to find out more, giving the writer a chance and very often I am surprised and I gain tremendous insight.

This time it was different. The first sentence struck me: "I never travelled as a child". It got to me so deeply as I travelled almost too much and nowadays almost prefer to stay home. She literally had me at hello. I wanted to find out more and kept reading and dove into her story. She described how her mother's resistance to travel instilled in her an aversion, a fear of travel, a fear of things foreign". Later in her story of divorce of one and marriage of another, she still continues to become to terms with how she feels toward travelling: "Travel is unpredictable...you really don't know which your good trips will be.." By the end of the story I emphasised with her, yet we are on complete opposite ends. I, who had travelled and who had immersed myself in culture so much and who was so comfortable in the foreign and strange being open and curious to dive in again and again and again and she, the writer - like me- who described herself only vaguely becoming comfortable and confident with travelling when it had a purpose such as researching for her book on Siracusa.

We certainly are tremendously shaped by our environments. That reminds me of an essay I wrote on Nature vs. Nurture delving into book upon book to find appropriate supporting documents/statements.

It is easy to judge and reject someone, even if they are different. Quality does not always become visible quickly. One needs to invest time and thought to delve deeper.