Welcome to my newsletter
by Christine Harris
Why Substack? Community. If you’ve read any of my essays - thank you – you may have noticed a theme running through them. Community is important and I believe the Substack platform supports that. It’s all too easy to go down a rabbit hole reading all the quality content here and you’ll see the support as we recommend each other. This is a place I feel good getting lost in, other than when I’m creating.
What you’ll find here? Lots of words about travel and my love for Italy. And I’m a romantic, so if you’re not into an ideal, dreamy story, you may want to move on.
I’m not a romantic in the searching for love way so don’t worry, this isn’t going to be me on the hunt for an Italian man – well maybe if one enters the picture now and then. I’m a romantic in that my life is a romance. Moving from Los Angeles to a tiny upstate NY town where I own a little cottage in the heart of the village, that’s romantic. Surrounded by a community of beautiful gay men, mostly former NYC musicians, actors, and chefs – trust me, romantic. A tribe of friends around the world, mostly writers, photographers, and artists - my idea of romance.
At the time of starting this Newsletter, I’m 54. Only when I look in the mirror, I’m reminded of this because I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m not complaining about my changing body but it’s just a simple fact. It’s changing due to being 54. There will be some reflecting on that. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and that makes a deep impression on my beliefs about beauty and aging. Luckily with age comes that feeling of being comfortable in your own skin and having your own unique style. That’s me romancing me.
The not-so-romantic stuff, the hard and real parts – there will be that too. You’ve got to have it because that’s life. Another reality about being 54 is my heart is fragile. The more life I experience, the more loss and heartache too. I cry with pain and I cry with joy. More often with joy. Probably because of the pain. You get where I’m going with this.
So, let’s see where this all goes. I have no plan just simple storytelling. Whether it’s through pictures or words, that’s what I am, a storyteller
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