Be Here Now: Issabella Orlando
As the end of a challenging year approaches, we ask our tribe to slow down - to take a moment to be here, now. As Gifted, we are highlighting the inspiring people within our community who have been expressing love through all seasons of a challenging 2020. Despite all of its ups and downs, we shine a light onto the people who have helped to make a tough year brighter, kinder and filled with hope. Let’s take some time to slow down, to listen to their stories, and to continue to grow together as Gifted, by Nature.
Name: Isabella Orlando
Gifted: Creative-Minded Heritage Specialist / Film Maker
IG handle & Website: @issabellaorlando / Muse and Wander
Three words to describe how you’re feeling right now: Imaginative. Hopeful. Loved.
WHO ARE YOU AT THE END OF 2020?
I’m someone who values freedom. I try to grant myself the liberty every day to explore aimlessly, create intuitively, and grow organically into the life I’m meant to lead – slowly, fluidly, & without agenda.
IN A TIME OF INCREASING ISOLATION AND LONELINESS, WHAT HAS HELPED YOU TO FEEL CONNECTED THIS YEAR?
I’ve rediscovered how important it is for me to get outdoors. I try to take a walk every day in some form of nature – the parks, the woods, the meadows, farmland, along the river or canals, you name it – and find it creates so much clarity and space for inspiration.
During lockdown, I scheduled phone calls with friends the way I’d schedule meeting up with them in person. Now that life is busier and my favourite people are pretty much scattered across the globe, I’d really like to maintain that practise of setting aside time to properly catch-up.
CAN YOU SHARE WITH US WHAT CREATIVE PROJECTS HAVE YOU BEEN INSPIRED TO CREATE AND SHARE THIS YEAR?
When the world came to a screeching halt this past spring, I channeled the energy I’d shored up for travel and fieldwork toward a new website to replace the somewhat aimless and very experimental travel blog I set up five years ago. My new platform, Muse + Wander, explores curated travel through the lens of local culture and heritage. I also write editorial and lifestyle philosophy pieces that address art world debates and explore the crucial role of the past in our lives today.
In a similar theme, I also released my first film, ‘The Return Address’. It’s a short documentary about the rightful home of heritage objects and artefacts in museums, but it’s aesthetically pleasing as well as informative, and presented in a way that’s very accessible – anybody can watch it and should be able to better understand the issue at hand.
DO YOU HAVE A LOCKDOWN LESSON?
I’m someone who has always dreamt beyond the bounds of what I might actually be capable of. I hold so many visions for what I want to achieve in this lifetime, from work to travel to lifestyle, and because my interests are so widespread, I’m usually exploring multiple avenues at the same time. Getting quiet this year gave me the change to recognise how much of that ambition was fuelled by an inner monologue that included more self-inflicted fear-mongering and pressure to ‘do it all now’ than I’d like to admit. In this quiet time, I was fortunate to be able to get back to dreaming and creating with a lightness I hadn’t enjoyed in years. So I suppose I’m learning to let go of the reigns a little bit, to take myself less damn seriously, to just play with life like the game it really is and see where my instincts take me.
WHAT ARE YOUR LOCKDOWN BLESSINGS?
I’m thankful for a tribe of people who listen to my rambling, constantly pull through to support me, love me unconditionally, and give me the chance to love them right back. I think in facing fewer external distractions this year, I actually connected more deeply with those around me.
I’m hopeful for the future. I have no doubt that whatever the global circumstances, I’ll manage to create more art, connect to more wonderful people, and experience more good in the world with each passing day, month and year.
AS 2020 COMES TO AN END, AND WE WELCOME IN A NEW YEAR, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US SOME RECOMMENDATIONS TO COSY UP TO?
Listening to: When I’m working, Sylvan Esso is the one.
The chill winter playlist I currently have on repeat consists of The National, Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers, Tom Rosenthal and Taylor Swift (no shame – her new stuff is incredible). In terms of Christmas, I love the classic crooners.
Watching: I’ve been watching a lot of old films from the 30s and 40s, like Meet Me in St Louis and Remember the Night. Not really Christmassy but vintage black and white movies have such a nostalgic air to them. It’s a Wonderful Life is a no brainer.
In terms of TV, Chef’s Table is probably my favourite show on Netflix – it shows you a sentimental side to the chefs behind some of the world’s best restaurants. As a foodie and a creative I find it really inspiring.
Reading: Donna Tart’s ‘The Secret History’ is a classic.
I finally cracked ‘Wuthering Heights’ and was enchanted – it also happens to be very fitting for the first Christmas I’m spending in England.
I’d always recommend anything by Murakami. At the moment I’m lost in the Japanese forests of ‘Kafka on the Shore’.
WORLD ARE YOU MOVING TOWARDS?
What a good question.
In terms of my inner world, I’m doing a lot of personal work to release the judgements I have about myself and others that distract or limit me from being able to show up as the most authentic, creative and connected version of self that I can be.
In the outer world I hope our generation will be more conscious humans, in every sense – in terms of our consumption habits, our engagements with power and social issues, our personal relationships, how we spend our time. I’m trying my best to be a part of that.
I hope my work will apply art and history as tools in wider movements toward an enriched sense of togetherness, self-expression and environmental and social stewardship in the communities they pertain to.
