Can You Picture This, What's Your Essence?

My friend Olenka recently posted on her blog, Respice Finem, about a game she plays with friends in order to get a better understanding of what lies beneath, of what's below the surface when it comes to humanity. She said she asks friends to imagine for a moment, in their heads, that a picture is being snapped of them. This picture captures your essence, your sublime, your highest point of fulfillment in life. What is the picture of?

Surprisingly enough, or not really surprising at all actually, my answer came to me right away. No hesitation. I know my picture, I think of it often. It is a conglomeration of things I have experienced and things I have yet to see. It goes like this:

At 9 p.m. I am sitting in a tiny trattoria in Orvieto eating wild boar and drinking red wine. I am surrounded by 4, maybe 5 really close friends and a boyfriend, the love of my life. Not a husband, but a man who loves me all the same. The table cloths are white and below the table is my hand intertwined with my love's. Candles light the room, not lamps. The only thing you can hear is the laughter of other tables being drowned out by our own happiness. I have a giant smile on my face. The light of a camera flashes from across the room and what does it capture? Me, my happiest moment, I'm smiling, I've just said something in perfect and fluent Italiano. I am whole, I am complete, I am home.

What would your picture say about you?