It happens to be that I am spending this Easter In Florence. An Amazing place. Beautiful. Full of history, colors, details, and us. People.
Having this abundance of different peoples, colors, and shapes can make it hard for an OCD person to get some rest for their senses.
I was living in Florence for some time earlier in my life. As an OCD person I always found it difficult to rest my brain here. Luckily for me I was living just across from Palazzo Pitti, in the same building Dostoevsky lived in when he wrote ‘The Idiot’. At some point it was satisfying enough. Harmony, repetition, shapes. And the great façade of Palazzo Pitti on full display from our perch. But, if you know Florence, you know thousands of people flooded the street and piazza in front of the Palazzo all hours of the day and night.
As an alternative to this view outside of my windows, I found a spot in the neighborhood where you could sit for hours and look at another beautiful façade. There I had my own moments of meditation, perfection and peace. My view was of the façade of Santa Spirito, topped by one of Brunelleschi’s famous domes. A unique façade with beautiful, self-contained proportion . Shapes, doors, window. Everything is perfect. I still find it fascinating.
Even after years coming back to the same place I am filled with the same feelings. Just to look at it puts me in a meditative repose.
The only interesting addition to the visual presence of the façade is the sky above and that special Tuscan light. Such an unpredictable aspect of this view, yet always good and perfect. Like life itself.
My partner called this façade a wedding cake last night, only missing the frosting. Since he described it this way I couldn’t look at it any differently, it made me want to have cake! Immediately my mouth watered.
So, my meditation became a part of an unhealthy eating routine.
Regardless. Come to Santa Spirito whenever you will be here. Find your moment. Check whether for you it is only missing the frosting, or is complete in itself.
