Bella Scipione

Jan 21 2023

I am a few days behind on blogging our recent adventures. G and I arrived back in Sydney early Friday morning and are staying at Callan and Jesse’s place for the remainder of our trip. It feels good being back in Sydney and ending our trip where it all started. Visiting the boys was one of our main reasons for coming to Australia, so I am glad we have been able to spend as much time with them as we have. Michael, Callan, Dane, and Jesse will always be such special people in both of our lives and we are so lucky to have friends for life in a world thousands of miles away. We are unsure of our plans for our last three days but I know we will enjoy and appreciate every minute.

Our last two days in Melbourne included a visit to the ‘LUME’ art museum and ‘Eureka’ tower. Eureka Skydeck is the southern hemisphere’s highest observation deck at nearly 980 feet (300 meters). The boys we met in Byron Bay, Tim and Rory, trained an hour to the city to see us for our last night. They treated us to dinner at a restaurant on Yarra River. The restaurant was literally floating on the river and our table overlooked the city’s skyline. We shared pizzas and cocktails before starting our night out. The evening started at a cute little mini golf place called, ‘Holey Moley’. Tequila shots were followed by one of Holey Moley’s signature cocktails, ‘Rub a Dub Tub’. We played 18 holes of mini golf, Rory being champion of the first nine and G and Tim tying for first place for the latter nine. In other words, I was the loser (I blame it on the heels).

After our 18 rounds of the multi-sensory labyrinth of putt putt holes, we made our way to a bar called Lucky Thursday’s. The four of us spent hours dancing at the underground club. G and I are so happy we met Rory and Tim back in Byron and are lucky to have met boys who share our love for boogying and who never let a day go to waste. They both radiate love and show genuine care for all those they come in contact with – something so admirable. We have convinced the two of them to come visit us in Colorado – contingent upon us learning how to ski. We had an early plane ride to Sydney the next morning, so we parted ways with Tim and Rory and headed straight from the club to the airport.

I speak for both G and I when I say that our time in Melbourne changed our lives and growth mindset. In my last blog, I mentioned the works of Claude Monet and his impressionist philosophy. I wrote my previous blog shortly after we visited the ‘LUME’ art exhibit in Melbourne. The entire experience shifted my views on the world and has completely overwhelmed me with emotion, guiding me towards a new perspective of life. I have had some time to reflect on this experience and feel ready to share some of my insights.

The LUME Melbourne invites you on a journey through the vibrant world of French Impressionism. Part of the Impressionist philosophy was to capture a single moment in time on the canvas, preserving the sensation of the experience – the impression. The featured experience, Monet and Friends, compels you to leave the world behind and step into this fascinating period of modern art. From the musical score to the little details of using modern technology to bring different paintings to life, the experience completely echoed the mood and emotions of the 19th century.

I thought of both my Grandpa Bob and Grandma Joyce as I walked through the different spaces of the exhibit. I could picture my Grandpa sitting and reflecting on the various quotes of French impressionists displayed on the screen and my Grandma walking around and admiring each and every piece of the modern art. I’m unsure as to what exactly moved me so deeply, but I found myself crying on the floor and discerning all of the moments in my life that have lead me to exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Impressionist painters captured moments they saw and sensed, often depicting ordinary people and ordinary things. Their paintings were rarely staged, instead resembling a specific snapshot in time. ‘Art is about emotion; if art needs to be explained it is no longer art’ – Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The things we perceive through our eyes and how our brain understands what we perceive are two very different things. As I sat and watched each painting come to life, I came to realize that what is so extraordinary about life is really all the things we find so mundane.

It’s sitting in a room of silence with your best friends, holding each other, crying, and grieving. Extraordinary is home cooked dinners on a weekday with your family, finding time to come together despite everyone’s busy schedules. It’s going out to dinner with a person you love after a long day at work. Beauty is all around us and if we have the desire to truly appreciate it, we require an attitude of open receptivity; a willingness to receive and feel things that are usually met with an upturned nose – refusing to accept something that is sincerely good. Finding beauty in the mundane forces us to let go of our misguided judgements. Our world is full of wonder and mystery, and if you take a minute to pause and feel what you perceive, the world will be revealed in the most dazzling, impressive, and unpredictable ways.