Welcome

On the day I was born, crystals fell from the sky. And by crystals, I mean snow. This may explain my fixation with the holiday season. I’m originally from Chicago; I’m the weirdo that walks around singing Christmas songs when the temperature takes the slightest drop; and I’m also Shana. Very nice to meet you.

I’ve had a passion for writing for as long as I can remember. It was in fourth grade, at the age of ten, that I decided I wanted to write for the rest of my life. My teacher assigned our class to craft a one-page story using a list of about twenty vocabulary words. I somehow managed to create a ten-page story about a gentle giant and his pet gerbil. After having begged for an extension (it was uncharacteristic of me to miss deadlines), my teacher was astounded by the work I had done. She asked me to transfer the story onto a blank book, and she then “published” the tale in the school library. Many called me a “teacher’s pet” or an “overachiever” back then. To me, I was doing what I was supposed to, in addition to what I loved. Whether it was writing, drawing, painting, building, shooting–photos, people, photos–I’ve always been the creative type.

The title of this blog comes from the Italian verb scappare, “to escape.” Scappiamo is the “we” form of the verb, meaning “let’s runaway.” To keep your thoughts locked up within the confines of the brain is no fun, and I refuse to do it. And as J.R.R. Tolkien puts it, “Not all those who wander are lost.”

Let’s break out of that cage. Let’s get the hell out of here.

© Scappiamo, 2015