M'ILLUMINO D'IMMENSO

By my nature I live, think, and create in a stream-of-consciousness manner. While my life may seem a bit haphazard to some, I find that the greatest joys and most profound insights come when I am fully open to whatever experiences and truths life brings my way.
Recently, while doing a bit of research about Italian language and literature, I learned of a poem that emerged from the depths and met me face to face. Written by Giuseppe Ungaretti during (the end of?) World War 1, the 7-syllable piece called “Mattina” (Italian for “morning”) is the shortest poem in the Italian language:

Mattina
M’illumino D’immenso

And… that’s the whole poem. So what does it mean? Part of what makes this tiny piece of verse so great is its succinct and subtle use of the language. There’s much I could say about why the Italian language is so fascinating; perhaps I’ll write more on that later. But for now, I’ll offer a rough translation of this poem as I understand it:

“I am illuminated by the immensity of that which lies before me.'“

In the last couple years, I have experienced some incredibly meaningful insights, moments in which the veil between worlds was thin enough to reveal a bit of the beyond, and have helped me understand more of  life and death. Some of you will know exactly what I’m talking about. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had these experiences.

I happened to take a photo at one of those moments when Life spoke to me, in a landscape that is perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been and in a moment that forever changed me. I was given the ability to feel and understand things that I had never so fully seen or heard before, and I was able to comprehend more of the shape of life & death, my own lifetime and life purpose, generational cycles, the ties we have to the land, and so much more. It was a deeply moving experience that affected the very course of my life and I am still processing what I learned that day.

The photograph above is one that I took that day, in that moment, of the ancient landscape that spoke to me so deeply. And all that immensity — the palpable expanse of time, of space — lit within me a fire of knowledge that I will carry with me for the rest of my days. I know that only I can understand exactly what I experienced, but at the very least I wanted to share from my heart a little postcard from the beyond.

And… as I write this, I’m looking ahead at a 2020 that has been wiped clear of all plans and schedules. Truly un unexpected immensity of a different kind. At this point, my response is not yet one of feeling ‘Illuminated”… but perhaps I’ll get there.