Change. Beautiful, bold, challenging, creative change. Change towards the evolved, the simple, the essential.
I’m Diana Baur, a writer, change coach, artist and innkeeper. I live and work in the amazing wine hills of Northern Italy.
The courage to change. I spend hours on end with my guests talking about how change will mold us into people capable of doing things we never even fathomed. We are all constantly on the precipice of something new. It’s how we absorb our current situation that determines what direction our life will take. Do we resist? Block? Ignore? Do we see events as mere co-incidence, or do we search for a deeper meaning to the magic that unfolds before our eyes?
I am awed and humbled by the individuals that I have met here at my little retreat in the Piemontese hills of Northwestern Italy. Actors, creatives, doctors who spend half their time working for free in developing countries, designers, writers, restaurant owners, psychologists, moms and dads, brothers and sisters. We always end up touching on the subject of massive life change and what it inevitably brings with it. The power of this place, my little hill, where the leaves rustle, the vines grow and the seasons dictate everything, brings people back to themselves, to their essential energy and leads them to question where they’re headed.
You can reach whatever you want… self-determination through financial freedom, the ability to say no when you want to, the freedom to be who you are to everyone you come in contact with, time to dedicate to causes that move you. These goals are both simple and haughty, because while we can see them clearly, it might very well take everything we’ve got in our arsenal to manifest them.
But your arsenal is big. Much, much bigger than you think. If change has taught me one thing, it’s that we underestimate what we’re capable of. Our abilities far outweigh our concept of ourselves. We can draw from the huge pool of common good that we have at our disposal, every minute of the day.
27 Things About Me
Lost my home, my family’s tenement apartment in New York City, to fire at age 6. Four people were killed in the blaze. My whole family survived. I still have a recurring dream of seeing the flames reflected in my sister’s eyes.
After that, we moved to the country side in Pennsylvania where we ate, for the most part, what my parents grew and my dad shot. Their garden is still the most amazing piece of work in my memory.
Twelve years of catholic school helped me see, by reverse example, that it’s critical to stay open to universal truths and the ideas and beliefs of others through independent, non-secular spirituality.
I volleyed with Don Budge, 1938 Wimbledon winner and tennis legend, at the tennis court across the street from my house when I was 13.
Started working in a law office at 13 and got kicked out because of child labor laws. I returned after my 14th birthday.
Went to London for a week in high school with a student group at age 15. I came back with a perm and plucked eyebrows. My parents didn’t recognize me when I got off the bus back home. They grounded me.
At 15 got a job as a chambermaid at a local motel. Little did I know how many room cleanings my future would actually hold.
Almost missed college completely because of a guy. He mercifully dumped me and I went on to higher education, a year late.
I failed calculus in college twice and got an A in it the third time. It’s amazing what opening text book ( and a professor that actually speaks your native language) can do.
My illustrious career includes (but is not limited to) store clerk, typist, lifeguard, cleaning girl, head shop salesperson, piano teacher, coffee house pianist, waitress, weight loss counselor, health food store manager, insurance sales person, retail department manager, architect office manager, interior design business manager, purchaser, carpet sales person, corporate director of marketing, english teacher, english language coach, resume writer, ceramicist, bed and breakfast owner, cooking teacher, painter, writer, life coach. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something so be sure to check back occasionally for updates.
I got married straight out of college because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Turns out it wasn’t.
Did a year of the macrobiotic diet and got a green belt in karate after my divorce at age 25.
Married a foreigner the second time around. Doing that will change everything forever. You never get to be an overzealous patriot when there’s someone in your house offering you perspective every day.
Embraced the executive world as the Director of Marketing for a medium-sized west coast construction company. Loved the company, the process and the interaction.
For three years, lived in a tear-down cottage 3 blocks from the beach in Corona del Mar, California. Everyone should do this. Everyone.
Had a company paid pied-à-terre on the Upper East Side of Manhattan for a year. Now, that was livin’. Ok, maybe the East Side’s a little more boring than the West Side, but you know what? It was still awesome.
Moved to from Pennsylvania to Washington, DC to Southern California back to Pennsylvania to Hamburg, Germany to Acqui Terme, Italy. I can pack up a house and get three international moving bids in a matter of hours.
Started my own English Language Consultancy for German Business Executives in Hamburg.
Learned the German Language at age 36 and Italian at age 45. I’m fluent in German and speak Italian well. There’s a difference between those two levels of proficiency.
Did a five year ceramics apprenticeship in Germany at age 39. Opened my first pottery studio and had my first exhibition at 41.
I’m a master ceramicist and sell internationally.
Along with my husband, sold everything and moved to Italy and bought an abandoned farm, plunging head first into the dream. Renovated, restored and loved it, brick by brick, into a top rated elegant B&B.
Had two terrifying brushes with panic, one which led to agoraphobia and hospitalization, that eventually led to a deep commitment to irreversible life change. Lived, and thrived, to tell the tale.
Teach cooking classes, spreading the goodness of Piemonte’s amazing cuisine through happy hands and full tummies. I come from a cooking family. Both of my grandfathers immigrated from Italy and cooked for a living. Many in my family were in the restaurant or hotel business. I feel that I’ve kept up a long family tradition by cooking and taking care of guests.
Wrote my first novel in 2011 entitled True Vines to be published in 2012 by Gemelli Press.
Finishing up my first ebook entitled YOUR TRUTH. It’s about finding your way back to yourself, and is the backbone of what I believe to be true.
When I’m not making breakfast, writing about courage and change, or coaching my clients about courage and change, you will find me satisfied and meditating in my pottery studio.
