It Seems The World Has Changed

In this pic I’m sweaty. We’ve just finished hiking in Kulen Mountain in Cambodia. I have a bit of a sunburn. And I think a mosquito is caught still alive in the sunblock goo that has formed near my hairline. But I’m happy - more than that I’m content. I was being interviewed yesterday answering questions about life, maybe some of the difficult things I’m going through personally at the moment, and I realized the thing I am most proud of is the woman I have become. At this moment I am juggling 900 mountains and yet... in spite of stress and anxiety there is a peace inside of me. A knowledge that I’ve got this. Regardless of what happens and the various outcomes - everything is going to be ok. I land in Venice - men in hazmat suits greet me. They are taking temperatures, swabbing mouths. I realize the world has changed. What is this Coronavirus? Covid19? I thought it was just a flu. But now… it seems it’s more. They just canceled carnival. It seems surreal - have they ever canceled carnival before? Maybe in the War? The authorities are scrambling to contain rapidly rising number of new coronavirus infections in Italy, the largest amount outside Asia, stopping public gathering. I left my house in Venice 1 month ago on a journey flying around the world. I went for business - speaking in Paris, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas - before boarding a plane to Cambodia. I was taking a writers retreat. 10,000 miles I flew to be alone. I needed solitude. To hear myself think. The world it is changing. And I don’t know how. I don’t know what’s next. But I feel okay.