In the past year I have had the pleasure of starting studies with my friends Elisa & Eva. They studied English with me while I study Italian with them. They say the best way to learn is to teach, so this is a very fine exchange. We started simply with words that are often spelled the same way in both languages, the pronunciation is usually different, and sometimes the meanings as well. As we were beginning our first “lessons” I was realizing how many words in English could be changed with just a letter or two for a different meaning, with the same root, on one hand confusing when it didn’t translate well in Italian, on the other rather poetic when thinking about the beauty of wordplay.
One root that stuck out to me was muse, which has the same meaning in Italian, and has its root in the Muses, the nine (9) daughters of Greek gods (either Zeus and Mnemosyne or Uranus and Gaia), who are themselves goddesses of literature and art. A muse is someone or something that inspires a person to bring forth their creativity and their art. Now add some wordplay …. There are several people here in Piegaro who amuse me to no end with their humor, antics and welcoming spirits. And there are a few people who seem quite bemused by me, this odd creature from another country with different ways, often different even than the tourists who arrive. Finally the town has its own museum of glass, which follows the history of this art and now very practical craft, back though its beginning in the 13th century. It is a beautiful presentation of the art and culture of this sweet community.
Piegaro, my home village here in Italy is most definitely my favorite muse each day, as I can find something new to see, hear, photograph and write about. Even the days I don’t write, I have a divine inspiration from this place God has brought me to. As a spiritual director, it gets me to musing (thinking, hopefully creatively) about how the Spirit is flowing through this beautiful place, through me. As I have mused on my muse it has been so very easy to romanticize this beautiful village, so see only her sweet simplicity among the soft rolling hills, to experience the sacred moments walked out through her streets in processions, and prayed through on bent knees in chapel, and two beautiful churches. There is so much beauty to find in the art and flowers with which the villagers adorn their homes, to the visible signs of the sacred they tuck away as well within the walls of the town. That is always the sweetness of a muse, it brings forth its beauty to an awaiting artist or soul looking to see the creative wonderment to be found.
To be amused is something spectacularly different in that it is a reaction to something creatively wonderful, usually humorous or enchanting. When we meet someone who is naturally witty we get to behold a different type of beauty that inspires our creative senses. I have a friend here who actually climbed outside my apartment building from the 2nd floor attic of my neighbor to my rooftop terrace (4th floor) when I locked my keys inside and as he handed me the keys, he laughed as he said “Spiderman to the rescue.” He is quick with a fun quip, so amusing at a time when I was feeling particularly foolish. Or the subtle words of another neighbor the morning after I climbed through a 1st floor window when locking my keys in my new ground floor apartment “You can give me a your key because I keep the keys to many houses here in Piegaro.” A kind, yet obvious way of saying someone saw my silly butt hanging out the window again. How each person reacts to my personal problem of constantly forgetting keys is always so amusing and funny, and carries away my embarrassment for it is sheer beauty, an art!
Of course, this is a nice reaction to my constant crazy ways: folks are generous enough to be bemused, rather than annoyed by me. Oh yes, there have been a couple of folks who were visibly put off by my antics, but there is simply a freshness in those who choose to look at little misfortunes, accidents and foibles in life with bemusement that warms the heart. It is the gift of taking things lightly, which is so important in a world with serious problems which pull at our emotions. It is the fine art putting things into perspective as joyously as possible.
Rounding things out, it is easy to see how all these things artfully come from the root of muse, but the obvious museum, the museum of glass often plays the muse in unique ways. First of all, kudos to the borgo and all who brought about the museum’s founding and its fine curator Chiara who magically bring forth the artist in all who enter. The Museo del Vetro, Museum of Glass, not only has a wonderful well-thought presentation of over 700 years of glassmaking, but they inspire new artists with demonstrations, classes, concerts, meals, markets, and more. This year’s glass festival, Days of Glass, had over 10 artists at work creating their glass art from stained glass, to etching, to blowing, and more. Folks eagerly watched the artists in their creative process, but they too were given an opportunity to be the artists, as they challenged the onlookers to take photos, from their perspectives of the creation of art. Frequently there are classes in various art forms utilizing glass. This year alone I have weaved the straw fiaschi around glass bottles, etched glass, made jewelry, and created an “infiorata”: flowers framed under glass, and I even missed many more classes offered. The classes amused me, bemused me for ways to get out of creative messes, were muses for writing and gave me a wonderful sense of the beauty of the history and important place of glass in this community. Total beauty!
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