Written in June 2025.
Wow. I truly don’t even know where to begin. I used to share so much of my life here and on Instagram, then things changed and I felt the pull to be a lot more private. I have to admit, that doesn’t come very naturally to me, as sharing my life is like breathing to me—writing is how I move through and process what’s happening to me, and with all these current channels, I shared so much. But I do believe there’s a lot to be said to keeping things to yourself, and it’s what I’ve chosen to do over the past year (almost two). It’s true that I also have been busy, leaving me less time to write here. Some months I’ve barely had time to write in my journal, which is a practice I’ve had since I was little.
Well, in the last months my life changed and suddenly I have a lot more time on my hands. I broke my leg in a truly freak accident while walking in the centre of Rome. Unfortunately it wasn’t even just a quick trip to the emergency room kind of situation, I had to have surgery two days after, which included a private ambulance ride (for 120 euros, America could never) to a private clinic where I stayed for four more days. My Dad flew to Italy for the first time ever, and I couldn’t believe it was under these circumstances.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, though. Where did we leave off here on the blog? I made one post once I moved to Roma (which was July 2023) and from there I haven’t written many updates—just my usual where I traveled and how I passed the Italian summer. I could probably write an entire blog post each on how my daily life has changed (and maybe I will?): friendship evolutions, dating Italians, learning languages, working in Rome, life abroad, etc. For now I guess I’ll try to catch you up to speed, and more can come on all of that at a later date.
To make a long story short, when I moved to Rome I was studying Italian and working remotely. My life was almost one of total follia, madness. I was always out and about in the city, walking endless kilometers a day, exploring during my free time, staying out late, even on weeknights. Working East Coast hours was fine with me, as it always had been when I’d done it in the past, because everything happens later here. I made new friends, I had almost daily moments where I stopped to pinch myself and thought, this is really my life, I did it. As with any major manifestation that comes in, there was a period of great awe in which I just lived in gratitude for this life I had created, this huge dream I had finally achieved. I had finally done it.
I took some beautiful trips but I also really enjoyed just being in Rome. During my first ~year living in Rome, I was back in the US often for family weddings and events, so it didn’t leave me much time to travel elsewhere, but I also wouldn’t have missed those moments for the world. Now as my life continues to shift more to here rather than there, I’d like to be conscious of when I make time to travel, that I have high-quality time with my family and friends, because it is so important when you don’t have those daily or weekly interactions anymore.
And of course, there have been hard moments, too. The pains of life abroad that can sometimes ail you…navigating new experiences for the first time, missing family and friends, falling out with people you thought would be there for you, feeling in a way like your life gets interrupted when you shift between countries (both ways).
But through everything that has happened I tried to take it all in stride: I held the vision of my life here and even when something disrupted me, I knew I was meant to be here and it would all work itself out.
Fast forward to January of 2024, when I got laid off. It wasn’t totally out of the blue—I had been wanting to get out for a while, and I knew if I wanted to stay in Italy, I had to find a job here. I actually felt a bit of relief when I got out of the Zoom call, as my work had become quite toxic after a lot of corporate reorganising. I started freelancing right away, and talking with anyone I could about job opportunities in Rome. I knew I would do literally whatever it took to stay here.
By the end of February, I interviewed at a UN agency which has its headquarters here in Rome, and found myself moving into a role that was basically written for me. The universe and God truly do work in beautiful ways. I had this opportunity thanks to a connection I made in Rome in 2019—leading me to believe that all those years I spent going back and forth, slowly building my life here even if I wasn’t always physically here, were invaluable to me. By the end of April, I was commuting to an office in the centre of Rome every day, entering in a new world in which I felt completely at home for so many reasons.
I think I’ll save the job aspect for another post, because it truly could be its own story. My life changed quite drastically that spring. But like any good Saturn return period, everything that was shaken up or destroyed was for my greater good, giving me the chance to build a more stable foundation for the rest of my life. This job has allowed me to make incredible friendships, put more roots down in Rome, and truly feel a part of something much greater, and feel much more permanent here.
My daily life was completely changed—and I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a bit of a struggle for me at first. Going from years of complete freedom, working remotely from quite literally whatever corner of the world I wanted, to commuting and working in office every day (except one glorious work from home day a week) was an adjustment. Eventually I got the hang of it and now I actually wouldn’t have it any other way. I love the socialisation of the office, dressing up, the community feeling of it all, and it helps that my office mates have become friends outside of the 9-5. Plus, we have a beautiful office.
My visa changed from student to mission visa, which was a much simpler and smoother process. And I would say by February of this year I was really finally feeling like I had the hang of my life. I finally joined a gym and it really changed my life. I felt so good in my body, my schedule was the right mix of work, sport, and friends, I dated a bit in the winter, I went to Athens for a solo weekend just because, then met friends in Spain in early March.
Then of course, right when you’re feeling on top of the world in a way, what happens?
One Saturday night in late March, just two days before I was supposed to depart on a solo trip to the Aeolian Islands, where I planned to hike Stromboli (a dream of mine), I had a complete freak accident and ruined my leg and ankle for the foreseeable future. Let’s just say a 75-minute hot yoga class that afternoon had left me a little too stretchy, I was (as always) day dreaming and not looking where I was walking, and the sanpietrini are NOT forgiving.
The funny thing is I had left the house a bit unsure if I even wanted to go out. But I was craving green olives and a glass of wine and above all, wanted to do some future scripting (there was an eclipse, and I had heard it was a good time for manifesting, okay?). Though I have to say my mind was completely blank on what I would write about. Looking back on it now, I think I had gotten to a bit of a place of complacency in my life—everything was going okay, but I still felt like I was missing something or some things (or someone lol). I wasn’t necessarily honouring my soul in some ways, but rather just going with the flow in a way that was a bit too passive, even for a Pisces who majorly lives life by going with the flow.
I still don’t totally understand why this happened to me, and lately with the pain and the slow healing timeframe, I’ve been more than upset and frustrated and feeling very alone. But part of me is grateful that it gave me the space to re-evaluate everything. Relationships that weren’t working, how I spent my free time, passions I had not been dedicating time to, and overall reminding myself what I deserve and what I want—which is so much more than what I had been receiving. So if anything, I’m now trying to look at this healing process as a time to get back to that higher frequency, higher level, put in place the things that are really important, so that when I do return back to my full life, I’m living it the right way, the best way.
And if you aren’t a spiritual person, these sentiments probably didn’t make any sense. Maybe try reading Manifest by Roxie Nafousi.
Now as I approach two full years in Roma, I’m a bit in disbelief it’s been so long. Even through my recent pain, I’m still so grateful to live in this beautiful city and to have this life. There is so much more I’m dreaming about—and I know it will be mine soon simply because it’s already living in my heart.
And as summer begins so soon, I’m hoping to be by the sea as much as possible, re-learn to walk and in a month get back to the gym, write more and leave myself time for creative projects, nurture my friendships, keep working hard on so many new things that are interesting to me (in all the chaos of the last two months I got an exciting promotion)…and above all, leave room for the unexpected and the new adventures that always make estate italiana so magical. Sure it will be different this year (as I write this I’m still walking with a crutch), but I have faith it will still be beautiful.
This post hardly covers everything I’ve been up to the last two years, but that’s okay. Leaving room for more, as always.
Until the next one…
xx Maggie
