I was feeling some comparison after seeing someone on Instagram enjoy a lovely trip to Italy. I have felt sad that in my adult life, most of my financial resources have been dedicated to making a living as an artist and I haven’t been able to travel as much as I would like to. Instead of feeling down about having never been to Italy, I asked myself what the aspects I imagine I would love about being in Italy would be. What came to mind was: walking around outside, sitting by the water, eating outside, going to museums and enjoying lovely food and beautiful architecture. I thought about how I could incorporate those aspects into my life here in Detroit, and that has looked like incorporating a way to enjoy dining and being outside more. Unfortunately, I don’t have any outdoor space in my home nor in my studio. I had the idea that even though I don’t have any dedicated outside area, I could put a small table on the sidewalk outside of my studio. I started asking around, and it turned out that my sister who is moving was getting rid of a small bistro table and two chairs. She brought them to me last weekend when we got together for Mother’s Day and on Monday I promptly set them up on the sidewalk outside of my studio.

For the past week, I have enjoyed sitting at that table at all hours of the day. I have written my to-do list for the day with a cup of Dandy Blend in the morning. I have had a glass of wine and read my Sheila Heti book out there in the evening. I ate my sandwich for lunch out there in the afternoon. I sat outside and smoked a joint with my neighbor and talked about movies. The amount of pleasure I am receiving from the simple acquisition of this table and subsequent use there is truly something else. I joked to my friend that I’m living my Italian lifestyle on the sidewalk in Hamtramck. These are just the small pleasures that make life special, and it’s all about how you view them and imbue it with meaning.