I was taking an online painting class with Katie Ruiz last week and she said she cried the first time she saw a Munch painting in person. The first time I saw Birth of Venus by Botticelli at the Uffizzi in Florence, Italy I wept as well. I was in my early twenties and I rarely ever shed a tear. Venus was so beautiful, but I also couldn’t believe that I somehow had arranged my life in a way that allowed me to be standing in front of it. A great master painted this, the world has worshipped it, and here I was a part of the world’s collective story of beauty. Standing there with my heart in my throat feeling like I have stood where my people have stood.