"Italy taught me to readjust my focus" - Judith Valente, The Italian Soul

Today I talk with Author Judith Valente about her recent book The Italian Soul - How to Savour the Full Joys of Life. 

In Judith’s introduction to The Italian Soul she writes, “I depart Italy with the same feeling: I found what I was looking for”. Judith shares not only practical advice on how to savour the daily details, but what she has learned from her ancestors and her time in Italy with friends and family. While on retreats to pilgrimage sites in search of beauty and the contemplative life, from history, the monastics, the sense of community and conviviality that is a part of the every day life in Italy - Judith shares how we can create balance in our lives when we bring some simple pleasures into the every day, wherever we are in the world.

If you would like to deepen your interior life or appreciate the sacred in daily life, Judith’s book - The Italian Soul is a wonderful Invitation. Enjoy this conversation…

Book - The Italian Soul by Judith Valente

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"If you could write about anything you want to write about what would it be?"....

Welcome to Episode #117:

I am excited to introduce you to Janet’s Constantino’s beautiful debut fiction novel 'Becoming Mariella’. This is a deep and rich conversation about her gem of a book and writing journey. We discuss in depth Janet’s Sicilian-American heritage, navigating traditional values and family expectations. 

There are many wonderful tangents in this conversation - we talk travel and Italy and how place can be a powerful magnet without really know why, yet something deep inside of us resonates with certain places. 

We go on a true journey navigating her book ‘Becoming Mariella’ and our personal experiences of following our own paths and breaking free! 

Get ready for a beautiful conversation with two women talking about life, writing, Italy and the journey of Becoming Mariella! 

Visit Janet Constantino - Becoming Mariella

Instagram - Janet Constantino

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Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"What we can be in control of we should be, especially when it comes to creativity" - Tracey Emin, Strozzi Gallery Florence - Documentary 

This podcast share has been percolating for some time. Over the year I have found myself musing about creativity and the importance of opening up space in our busy lives to not only make beautiful things but to be available to our creativity as a way to keep steady as technological advancements continue to shift our lives in various directions. 

I love that we get to have this experience and make choices along the way. Do you remember dial up Internet and how slow it was? And now we can use this incredible resource to our advantage. We can make things happen. We can be many things, all at once. It is exciting and yet, to thrive we will need to create beautiful openings in our lives to not let it undermine our ability to be creative, to be sovereign and unique as life moves us forward. 

I guess this conversation is about many things. It is about the necessity of creativity and the fact that great art and writing and books are beautiful things to hold onto and to be a part of. I want to share this sense that I have, that being on a creative quest is important and vital and nourishing as the noise around us gets louder vying for our attention, that we do have our own bounty of inner resources to tap into. 

Regardless, I am feeling that it is time to get creative and make beautiful things. That could be our legacy as things leap and change and grow in the coming years...

Enjoy x

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Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"I adore the spirit of Rome" - Michelle Johnston, In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Welcome to Episode #115:

More and more I realise there is just something about Italy. This podcast is a culmination of an eventful solo journey in Italy and Paris, and the culmination of the days wandering around Italia has me feeling very open to the beauty of the day and those last precious moments in Rome…

Enjoy x

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

My book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

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Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"The brittle crust off the present fractures; my feet sink into the quicksand of antiquity" - Anthony Doerr, Four Seasons in Rome

Welcome to Episode #114,

A spontaneous moment sipping an Aperol Spritz sitting at a caffe/wine bar on the corner of a busy side street close to Via Nazionale has me musing over some beautiful moments in Rome, purely sunny days full of grand adventures, being lost but absolutely happy in Italy…

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My book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for  MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"Solitude is a place I like to go" - Tracey Emin

Welcome to Episode #113:

Today I share some beautiful moments in Bologna and Florence while sitting at a cafe close to Mercato Centrale in the centro storico of Firenze. Exploring art and culture was at the forefront of my experience in Italy on this recent travel adventure and there is no doubt there are many moving parts on this journey of mine. I discover much more than I expect seeing Tracey Emin at the Palazzo Strozzi and the restored artwork of Plautilla Nelli - The Last Supper c.1560 at the Santa Maria Novella.

I mention the Strozzi Gallery and seeing Tracey Emin Sex and Solitude and The Time for Women exhibition that are currently showing in Florence, yet would also like to add while in Milan I went to I am Leonor Fini at the Palazzo Reale and loved her work and the beauty of her rich artist life in Italy and France. It came as quite a surprise to see such a femme de force of art after perusing the NovoCento in Milan, a wonderful museum of 20th and 21st Century modern art, yet certainly I noticed that 99 percent of the work was the art of men, a legacy that obviously reflects something more pertinent to art history and Italian culture. These observations left me pondering the times and the culture of art in Italy and perhaps my own experience as a woman forging ahead in difficult times in the 21st Century.

Enjoy x

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© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"Sometimes you just have to move forward and lead the way" - Michelle Johnston

Welcome to Episode #112,

From the Campo Sofia between the gondole and the Strada Nova while sipping a macchiato I share some travel stories and adventures of my days in Italy, it’s full vibrant cafe life and feeling that Venetian light soaking into my skin while musing over events, places, journeys.

Enjoy x

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Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"Now & again I am able to live expansively, to feel expansive, with nothing & no one to do it for. Then I am happy, or happier than otherwise" 

April 18, 1951 Patricia Highsmith, Her Diaries and Notebooks

Welcome to Episode #111:

This episode comes after a week of travelling solo in Italy reflecting on events and pivotal moments that led me to taking time in Italy to restore balance and beauty in life, to let Italy and Paris work its magic. It’s not exactly a perfect introduction, there is grief and emotional baggage but life and blessed time in Italy is a guaranteed source to move me forward into writing and reading. 

The simple pleasures of time alone and enjoying cafe life in Paris and Italy do work their magic. The gifts of travel, to old and new places help integrate and challenge me to move forward, to honour myself and make peace with a challenging time in life.

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

My book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

Book Link for  MichelleJohnston.life

© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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"We travel not to escape life, but for life to not escape us"

Welcome to Episode #110:

Italy beckons... 

Today Nadia and I talk travel moments and her soulful Tuscany Cooking Retreat in Tuscany this year, see links below to book yourself something special in Italy this coming November-December….

Tuscan Escape with Nadia Fragnito

Hortulanus Villa in Tuscany

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"Does the ever- evolving desire for beauty at home derive from a super sense of conviviality?" - Frances Mayes, A Place in the World

Welcome to Episode #109:

Some of the most delicious parts of this journey over the many years of loving Italy is the way it slowly became a part of my every day life.  At home I see the art, the ceramics, the candle holders, the table ware, the cookbooks, the coffee table and Italian design books and my favourite coffee mugs that I enjoy using daily (let’s not forget the true force in my life - the 10 cup Bialetti Moka Pot) and everything else I have collected along the way have played a beautiful role on this Italian journey.  

There is magic in the every day domestic and mundane details of our lives and the joy we feel when we see these beautiful momentos from the travels and the inspiration we have felt to acquire such an object. 

Today’s share is a revel in how Italy has been just as important at home for me as it is as a place in the world.  

Enjoy listening, 

Michelle x

Find all Shownotes at  michellejohnston.life

Buy my new book:  In the Shadow of a Cypress - An Italian Adventure

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© 2025  A Writer In Italy - travel, books, art and life
Music Composed by Richard Johnston © 2025

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