A new life in Europe begins
Dancing between joy and sorrow, I begin to find a sense of community and connection in my newly adopted home of Barcelona.
We were some 2,000 people sitting in the symphony hall of the concert hall L'Auditori in Barcelona but it felt as intimate as someone’s living room. Brad Mehldau, an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, one of the most influential artists of his generation, held us under the spell of his music.
Leaning over the Steinway, Mehldau conjured melancholic notes from the keys—smoke and mirrors and magic. He performed from his latest album, Après Fauré, an homage to the French composer Gabriel Fauré. We listened to Mehldau’s soulful interpretation of Fauré’s haunting Nocturne No. 13 in B Minor, Op. 119. Then, he paused, reached for the microphone and gathered us close.
“Thank you for coming and for all the positive energy in this room. These are difficult times. I’d like to play you Neil Young’s ‘Don’t let it bring you down.’” He turned back to the piano and this refrain had special resonance for me:
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
As the iconic ‘70s ballad echoed in the auditorium with Mehldau’s slow, mournful rendition, I thought of the painful upheaval and shocking assault to democratic systems currently unfolding in my homeland, the United States. A week earlier I had moved to Spain to make Barcelona my permanent home. I felt no less attached to the suffering, anger and heartbreak of so many in the country of my birth. I can’t join the protests in the streets but I carry the pain in my heart. Music helps, as both powerful expression and a healing balm.
So does community and connection. I am beginning to find both in Barcelona, this diverse, cosmopolitan city, the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeast Spain. With a population of 1.6 million, it is the largest city in the region and the second largest in Spain. Its metropolitan area of 4.8 million inhabitants is the fifth most populous in Europe.
This week I move into my new apartment in Badalona, a seaside city of some 200,000 people, just 10 kilometers away by metro or train from the city of Barcelona. I’ll be joining my daughter
and her partner who have made their home here in the old town of Badalona, which sits on the ruins of an ancient Roman city.It feels a world away from the protests in the streets, the anger and the fear that so many Americans are experiencing. I am worried and outraged, too. A dear friend tells me of her anxiety and depression. She said she is bracing for more assaults on the institutions of democracy and for painful economic outcomes to the actions of the Trump (and, it must be said, although he wasn’t elected or appointed by Congress) the Elon Musk administration.
In our digital age, it’s nearly impossible to live in isolation from what is happening in the rest of the world. Nor would I want to. I am a former newspaper reporter. For 30 years my livelihood has been writing about business and sustainability: how companies exercise their social and environmental responsibility, not just devotion to the bottom line. This business commitment to do what is right for people and the planet seems to be faltering in this political era, particularly in the U.S, with the war on diversity, equity and inclusion. And that saddens and angers me, too.
Finding the light between the joy and the sorrow
As I embark on this new life in Barcelona—one I have worked toward, saved for and dreamt of for a long time—I feel suspended between elation and sadness. I am happy and grateful to be living here, with the Mediterranean Sea at my doorstep, in this calm and convivial society. And I am also filled with dread each day as I check the headlines from the U.S. and receive the troubled missives from my friends and family.
And so, I wrestle with the sorrow and the joy. I find other writers exploring the same in
and the 12-week writing intensive, “For the Joy and the Sorrow,” finding everyday delights and cultivating our sense of awe and wonder. To “join our wild” and defiantly find joy amid chaos is a necessary defense these days.“Is sorrow the true wild?
And if it is—and if we join them—your wild to mine—what’s that?
For joining, too, is a kind of annihilation. What if we joined our sorrows, I’m saying. I’m saying: What if that is joy?”’― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights, “Joy Is Such a Human Madness”1
Let me then catalog the joys and delights of my first week in Barcelona. It does my soul good in these difficult times and hopefully yours as well. These joys tuck themselves into qualities that, for me, define a life well lived. If my new chapter in Barcelona continues to shape itself along these contours, I’ll be a happy woman.
Music
Barcelona is a city in love with music and that delights me beyond measure. With the opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Palau de la Música Catalana and L'Auditori, it’s a classical music lover’s mecca. But here you’ll also find live music in every genre: jazz, rock, rumba, flamenco, latin, hip hop, and electronic. I’ve hungered for live music. The Brad Mehldau concert was a splendid way to initiate my love affair with Barcelona’s music scene. This week another amazing concert at the Palau de la Música Catalana is on the books, featuring Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” as part of the Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival.
Light
The light amid the darkness was on full display in the skies and buildings around the Poblenou neighbourhood and the areas around Pl. Glòries this past weekend for the Llum BCN light arts festival, an annual artistic program that turns urban spaces into a stage showcasing the possibilities of the language of light to transform public spaces. Photography, audiovisual elements, design, architecture, stage design, digital and contemporary art all explored the infinite creative possibilities of light. Families with small children, groups of friends, couples, dogs with light-up glow chokers—we wandered the installations and gazed up at the sky in a shared sense of awe.
But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,when it’s done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.—”Poppies”, by Mary Oliver
Creativity
We enter the candelit, cozy Alice Secret Garden Cafe in Barcelona for a gathering of the Barcelona chapter of The Offline Club, offering a relaxing break from screens, distractions and the daily rush: an invitation to unwind, meet others and enjoy creative time together. With soft classical music playing, in the hushed silence, one by one we hand over our phones to be locked up in the portable safe provided by the organizers. At the tables are journaling prompts, pens and paper, and at a long table, colored markers and coloring books. Some 30 people, bent over their books or their writing, in quiet, convivial creativity.
After 90 minutes, we head for the lush outdoor garden in the back, where various card games and a get-to-know-you bingo is set up. I make friends of all ages and nationalities. There is so much more to connect us than divide us. In one game we play, "The Onion Talks," we each choose cards to "peel the layers" for deeper conversations. My card: "What makes you feel most alive?" I tell my new friends: "This. Right now. Settling into a new country. A new life. At 64, to still feel the aliveness of a new beginning."
Serenity
We enter a darkened room set out with yoga mats, blankets and pillows, illuminated by a set of large white crystal bowls shimmering in the candlelight. Beneath an eye pillow, I close my eyes and relax into an English-language yoga nidra session guided by our instructor, Nada, in a melodious, Catalan accent. Quickly I fall into the unique form of yogic sleep that is yoga nidra, forming an intention, or sankalpa in Sanskrit, that gets planted in my unconscious mind like a seed as my body relaxes:
I am at peace.
For a deeper understanding of yoga nidra, do check out
by my friend as she walks us through “Yoga Clinic 6: Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep).” She has generously made this particular practice available to all.Afterwards in the early evening twilight, still infused with that sense of serenity, we stroll down the Carrer Dels Abaixadors past 15th century buildings in Barcelona’s famed Gothic District. The Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar gleams with a golden light. I know I’ll be back soon to wander the labyrinth of streets, steeped in the moodiness of Gothic style architecture. As Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of one of Barcelona’s most beloved books, The Shadow of The Wind writes: “The Gothic Quarter captures the essence of Barcelona’s ancient heart, and to visit it is like stepping back in time.”
Love
It is Valentine’s Day week, and the third Valentine’s Day without a romantic partner since I initiated my divorce in September 2022. And while I still hope for that kind of love (and get up the courage to finally hit the dating scene), for me, Love this week is all about the delight of mother-daughter love. After many years of an ocean between us and often just yearly visits, now I will be a 15-minute walk from Marielle’s apartment and a short flight away from Sara in Paris, who visits Barcelona regularly (she’ll be here in a week, in fact). The ability to spend time with these two greatest loves of my life is the ultimate joy of my new life in Europe.
3 Songs for 3D
Brad Mehldau performs 'Vision' from 'Après Fauré'
Neil Young, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”
Steve Winwood, “Can’t Find My Way Home.”
Brad Mehldau opened up the concert with his exquisite version of this classic.
When I'm near the end
And I just ain't got the time
Ohh, and I'm wasted
And I can't find my way homeSomebody holds the key
Let me be free
Let love be
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! LET’S CHAT. Below in the comments, please share:
How is light, music, serenity and love showing up in your life these days?
And if these, or other treasured qualities to a life well lived, are lacking, how will you try to bring them into your life?
Thank you to the paid subscribers who attended our first community call of 2025:
of , Jennifer Bridgman who writes , Sallie Bender, author of and who writes . It was a small, intimate gathering with a beautiful sharing of ourselves and where we are finding magic in plain sight. If you’re a paid subscriber who would like the recording of the call, let me know and I’ll send it to you. Please join us for next month’s First Tuesday Community Call on Tues, March 4, at 9am PST/12pm EST and 6pm CET. We’ll talk for about 30-45 minutes about the topic of that week’s Living in 3D post or whatever has bubbled up for you that week. Let’s make new friends, share ideas and resources and offer each other a sounding board.Welcome all the new subscribers! So glad you’re here! Your subscription is an honor that brings me so much joy. I am grateful for each and every one of you. I spend many hours each week crafting these essays with an eye to what will most serve my readers’ interests. If my writing brings you value and connection, and you have the means, consider upgrading your subscription. If that isn’t in your budget, I always appreciate a nice cup of coffee! Thank you!
“Joy Is Such a Human Madness,” Ross Gay, The Book of Delights
SO exciting to see you in your new life. That afternoon of creating, connecting, and yoga nidra sounds divine!
Thanks for sharing with us, Amy.
Wonderful post, Amy—loved the glimpse into your new life in Barcelona. And to be living near your daughters! It sounds ideal. This is a bad time in the US, and just thinking of Steve Winwood’s young plaintive voice makes me tear up. I hope we can find our way home, but it’s going to be a long time, I think.