Mina in the wild

In the last few days I finished three books. One I started a year ago, another I bought in Paris about a month ago, and the last I picked up out of our small stock pile we have acquired since moving to Amsterdam. I read these in the same manner I read all books. It takes me a while to get into them. Once I am hooked I start to devour its pages. I get way more emotionally attached to characters than is probably normal. Then once I see I am getting close to the end I’m torn. I can never decide if I should keep reading swiftly so I can see how the story will unfold, or if I should slow down and savor it before its over.

I feel empty after I’ve finished a story. Like the whole world I just brought to life is gone. That’s the reason I hesitate towards the end, and also why I tend to pick books in a series. I get the satisfaction of resolution, but the story still goes on. The three books I just read weren’t related at all, but I felt a need to connect them anyways. Hemingway, to Fitzgerald, to Nin. Even though technically they had nothing to do with each other there was a way to bridge them together through the authors personal lives. Making it feel like from one to the other the story continued. I read facts about how they met each other, and quotes on what they thought of each other. Then tried to find evidence of those thoughts in the pages.

In the course of the last year I lived in New York, New Orleans, and Amsterdam. We have come to our last week here, and have chosen Las Vegas as the latest place in a string of cities to call home. I find myself approaching this next phase much like how I read. Close to the end and bouncing back and forth between soaking up every thing the city has to offer, and just wanting to focus on preparing for the next one. Finding grace in transitions is not the easiest thing to do, but something I’m certainly working on. I’ve generally thought of myself as a cat that can land on her feet. Having little or no preparation and assuming my charm and persistence would get me by, but as I get older I realize that just isn’t enough for me anymore. Just as I found a way to bridge the three books together I am trying to take what I’ve learned in each city and apply that to my next move. So instead of starting over each time it is simply a shift into the next adventure with a little more knowledge. I have always found the true beauty of both books and dance to be in the transitions. It stands to reason that the same could be said for life.