In a personal essay, the writer describes traveling to Florence in search of awe after familiar surroundings and activities began to feel dull. The concern was that this boredom might be close to anhedonia, a loss of pleasure in things that once felt enjoyable. Seeing art and architecture in the city seemed like a chance to renew that sense of wonder.
The writer and their partner, Colin, were especially eager to see Michelangelo’s David at the Galleria dell’Accademia. When the statue came into view, the writer noticed awe on Colin’s face and then felt it too. The crowd had grown quiet, and the sculpture’s scale and form made the gallery feel almost sacred.
But the encounter did not bring the immediate relief the writer had expected. Instead, the statue prompted a sense of disconnection and distress. Afterward, the frescoes in their hotel room seemed flawed, and the writer began comparing their own artistic ambitions with Michelangelo’s achievement, wondering whether anything else could match the perfection they had seen.
A meal with Colin helped shift the mood. The writer found the pesto pasta intensely satisfying and recognized that, even if they could not create something like David, they could still appreciate beauty and enjoy an ordinary moment. The experience left them with a different kind of reassurance: perfection could be fleeting, but they had been present to experience it.
Sources: Psychology Today.