Appropriately, the little Jewelry store is just inside the Venetian Walls once used to protect the city from outside invaders, the star-shaped fortress, now landmarks my favorite treasure trove. Silver of all shapes and sizes surround you when you walk in, broken ever so slightly by mother of pearl in bright blue. Traditionally painted bowls dot the interior with crisp notes of lemon, and deep clay-red.

Self-love used to be an excuse to spend an entire “down day” on the couch eating whatever I wanted and binge-watching shows I can’t remember now. Clearly, I missed the point of what it meant to love myself, and at times made that process even harder after the liberties I’d taken in the name of a reward. I definitely didn’t love the headache derived from an albeit accidental hangover. It turned into a vicious cycle I somehow had to break. Sometimes life gives us a clear before and after type opportunity, and I got one of those recently.

As a young child, my confidence got me kicked out of ballet for taking over the class. And as a young adult, my confidence landed me at the podium in the general assembly hall of the United Nations. Life has a way of reshaping the blissful fearlessness of our youth into the cautious skepticism of over-informed adults. We gain knowledge, we gain experience, and I gained weight.