Bonne année!

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I feel like every year has a theme, and 2010's theme seemed to be centered around patience. When I was in Paris earlier this year, I found myself learning the lesson of patience over and over. And now that I am back, this time for a lengthy stay, I wonder if I have finally come full circle. Yet getting here was certainly no picnic. There were moments when the obstacles seemed unsurmountable and never ending. I can't even begin to recount the number of times I had to remind myself to put one foot in front of the other, and that things will eventually work out. And now, here I am, ringing in the new year back in Paris!

Today I received my final 2010 horoscope that reverberated this very subject.

"Life-changing moments are often the result of prolonged effort. You may feel like you're at the end of your rope, but keep the faith-- you've got a few more feet left and that's all you need."

A few more feet left? But I am here. I suppose that getting here wasn't my life changing moment, but rather, it is just ahead of me. A few feet ahead, to be exact.

Here's to the new year! Welcome 2011.

Solace

(Photo by Scott Schuman, thesartorialist.com)

Solace (Eng.) / Consolation (Fr.): noun

• Comfort in sorrow, misfortune or trouble; alleviation o distress or discomfort.
• Something that gives comfort, consolation or grief.

Tonight is my going away cocktail party at my local wine bar. I will be saying goodbye to my dearest friends on the eve of my departure for Paris.  As I prepared myself for the goodbyes that I will be facing, I stumbled upon some news of a different "good bye" variety. I just learned that Carine Roitfeld has left Paris Vogue. How could that be? Just days before my relocation to Paris?!  I feel that the timing of this is auspicious for sure.

While this is shocking, and definitely saddens me,  it is my job to receive this news as a hopeful sign. To embrace all of the change that will continue and hope that I can find solace in the possibilities that it offers.

Stand

It's nice to know that no matter what, someone's right behind you, backing you up all the way. Sometimes, however, you must stand on your own two feet and do it yourself, just to know that you can.

Arms

Arm (Eng.)/ Bras (Fr.) : noun
• an upper limb of the human body
• anything thought of as being arm like, especially in being attached or connected to something.

"The most beautiful clothing for a woman are the arms of the man she loves. But for those who do not have this happiness, I am here for them."
- Yves Saint Laurent

Lucky

Lucky (Eng.)/Lucky (Fr.) : adjective

• Fortunate. Favorable.

"If you're lucky, you wake up in your forties."

- Ali McGraw

Mantra

Mantra (Eng.)/ Mantra (Fr.): noun

• Any sacred word or phrase used as an object of concentration and embodying some aspect of spiritual power.

I recently heard a snippet from a Louise Hay interview that caught my attention. She was sharing her life's mantra. Apparently she reiterates this aloud daily, and multiple times a day. It goes something like this:

"All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good, and the highest good of others. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe."

She also said that the key to living a happy, loving and blessed life is "to always be grateful in advance."

The mantra seemed dangerously close to a mock self help affirmation that Stuart Smalley would have spewed in an SNL skit. But its message really is a perfect reminder throughout the day. 

So here I go, "Thank you universe for cooperating with me to clear the obstacles that are temporarily standing between me and Paris."

Reality

Reality (Eng.)/ Réalité (Fr.) Noun

• the state or quality of being real
• resemblences to what is
• a real thing or fact
• something that exists independently of ideas concerning it.
• something that exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

I've been on the wagon for a month. It was just time for me to take a break from wine. I wanted to miss it again.  Or perhaps I am getting drunk off of the reality of my upcoming changes. This lucidity has allowed me to tune into the universe's vibrational hum as I tackle fearful decisions, and knock off items on my to do list with wild abandon. I have no doubt that the celebratory wine will be well deserved soon enough.

"When a lot of change is happening, or a new dynamic is presenting itself, I want to be deft and aware. (When I put my plans in place to up and move across the country) I was a reality junkie. I wanted to be aware and take it all in.  The high was coming from the soberness of being able to experience every sensation. I can't imagine being like this again for a while... every once in a great while you get the sensation that you are exactly where you need to be, with razor sharp clarity, and you want to hold onto it and savor every last ounce of it. I can't think of anything more refreshing. It took a lot of faith to get here."
- Theo Enzo Aalto, since 1976

Passion

Passion (Eng.)/ Passion (Fr.): noun

• A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything.
• Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling.

The single most important step to connecting with your passion is to find the things that turn you on and begin doing them. Don't judge what they are, just do what you enjoy. For me, that means fashion magazines, documentaries, Paris and wine, and not necessarily in that order. This is the key to living a passionate life.

There are three elements that you must have in place as you tap into your passionate life:

• Friends
• Facts
• Faith

Friends: Surround yourself with people who love and support you and have your happiness and best interest in mind. This does not mean that you should look to naysayers or pessimists to supply you with love and support, but rather, seek those who are ready and willing to lift you up.

Facts: Want to create your own comic book? Open a wellness center? Publish a blog about possibilities? Gather the facts. Do the research and find out everything you think you need to know to make the next step. This is important because you will undoubtedly face fear along the path, and when you do it is a good idea to revisit the facts in order to keep the fear in check. Similar to the comfort that we get when we pet our dogs or cats, I call the revisiting of data "petting the data".

Faith: Take a leap of faith and act. Step off the cliff and learn to fly. There is only so much due diligence that one can accomplish before needing to jump. As Cheryl Richardson said, "You must act. You must try new things. You must pursue the things that interest you. You must make mistakes. You must act. Because action opens us up to passion."

Reconnecting with your passion gives you energy that counteracts the fear that no doubt will pop up time and time again.

Fou

Fou (Fr.)/ Basketcase (Eng.): Noun

• a person unable to function, especially because of emotional disturbance
• anything that does not function properly.

"I don’t want to pass through life like a smooth plane ride. All you do is get to breathe and copulate and finally die. I don’t want to go with the smooth skin and the calm brow. I hope I end up a blithering idiot cursing the sun - hallucinating, screaming, giving obscene and inane lectures on street corners and public parks. People will walk by and say, “Look at that drooling idiot. What a basket case.” I will turn and say to them, “It is you who are the basket case. For every moment you hated your job, cursed your wife and sold yourself to a dream that you didn’t even conceive. For the times your soul screamed yes and you said no. For all of that. For your self-torture, I see the glowing eyes of the sun! The air talks to me! I am at all times!” And maybe, the passers by will drop a coin into my cup."
- Henry Rollins

Future

Today's horoscope seems especially applicable. I wonder if Madonna felt this same sensation before she embarked on NYC with only $35 in her pocket?

Guided by the Universe

You might feel convinced that your ideas are on the right track toward achieving your goals, for knowing what you want and how to get it could give you the sense that everything is going to turn out for the best today. Perhaps your self-assurance could be the result of your belief in yourself and your trust that the universe will guide you to find the right path. Focusing on your connection with the universe today can enhance your feelings of confidence and give you a greater sense of what the future may hold for you. Just reminding yourself periodically throughout the day that the universe will take care of you—and knows what is best for you—might make it easier for you to place your dreams in its hands. You may notice that your confidence strengthens the more you are able to let go of your desires and let the universe take over for you.

When we know that the universe protects and guides us, we cultivate a greater sense of ease about what the future holds. Our feeling that things will work out is usually rooted in our knowledge that there is a strength in us that will help manifest our dreams. Much of this strength comes from our relationship with a power that exists beyond us – something that can give us hope even when times seem rough. By placing your trust in the universe today, your confidence about your future and your dreams will flourish.

Rue

Rue (Fr.)/Street (Eng.) noun:

• a thoroughfare, especially in a city, town, or village that is wider than an alley or lane and that usually includes sidewalks.

An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters

by Portia Nelson (1993)

Chapter One

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost... I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend that I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe that I am in this same place.

But it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see that it is there.

I still fall in... it's a habit... but,

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter Five

I walk down another street.

Philosophy

Lately I have been dealing with a lot of uncertainty, vagueness, and roadblocks. Often, I find myself reflecting on "What would Wayne Dyer Think about this?". And every single time, it comes up that he would simply choose to think of the good that any given situation has to offer. He has been quoted as saying, "If you really focus on what you think, and choose only good thoughts, then nothing has to be bad."

I have been choosing to see the good in every situation-- when I am conscious, which is certainly not all the time, because I am human after all. Yet I am still affected by other people's interpretation of my positive outlook. Some may call me a "spin doctor" which I think has a negative connotation. I suppose that is because I have experienced this term being used to reflect inauthenticity, manipulation, or lying. Other people may simply use a strange tone or give me a look that I interpret as "I don't believe that anything good just happened to you, it is just what you WANT me to think because things are really bad."

So my challenge to myself is to avoid the people who can't accept this viewpoint. And if I can't avoid them, then my goal is to simply remind myself that they too get to choose. And it just so happens that they may be choosing bad thoughts. Go figure.

Go

(photo by Seaofshoes)

Go (v., Eng.)/ Aller (v., Fr.): to move or proceed, esp. to or from something

"Some people think it's holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it's letting go."
— Sylvia Robinson

Tonight is a full moon, which is actually at its fullest at 7:11am (PST) tomorrow. They say that a full moon is for letting things go, and a new moon is for drawing things to you. This is a time to transform your life and strip away ideas, beliefs and maybe even people who do not connect with the person you are today.

Although a very significant friend of mine moved away today, it is important to mention that I am not focusing on this type of removal as I contemplate the effects of the full moon. That is because I believe that we sometimes have to let go of things in order to understand what is truly important. And the importance of this particular friendship has only been strengthened by saying good bye.

Instead, I focus on the removal of certain blockages, which I trust will allow more good to flow to and through me. So tonight I made a list of the things that I would like removed in order to create space for more good. I asked myself, "what can I change or remove so that I can live more authentically?" There were six distinct experiences that appeared on that list. I also ended up listing out things that I wanted to make room for in my life. And without thinking about it, I came up with exactly six experiences that I wanted more of. Whoa-- even a simple coincidence feels powerful during a full moon.

What makes up your list(s)? What do you want to remove in order to make way for the good to appear when the new moon rolls around on September 8th?

Jour

Jour (n., Fr.)/Day (n. Eng.):

• The period of light between dawn and nightfall
• the interval from sunrise to sunset

"It's a shame that we only have dreams at night. You should have a few opportunities during the day."

- Stephen Aleschi, Roman and Willams

Want

Want (v., Eng.)/ Vouloir (v., Fr.):

• To desire greatly; to wish for.

"Whenever something that you think you want does not unfold, it is for one of two reasons: Either your habit of vibration, your belief, your dominant vibration that you are offering relative to the subject, doesn't match what you think your desire is, or, you and your desire are a perfect match, and this thing you think you want just doesn't match, and so the Universe doesn't deliver it. "

-Abraham Hicks

Reborn

It's been a while since I have felt compelled to tear out inspiring pages from a magazine. This used to be my favorite past time until I found myself getting lost in a state of nothingness. Not to say that nothingness is a bad thing (see also "Nothing" post) but it was so nice to reconnect with a magazine that resulted in not one, but THREE tear outs. Jackpot! These tear-outable topics included, a first hand recount of visiting the Moonview Sanctuary, a non residential treatment center in Sanata Monica that specializes in grief (among various other things), an article about Paris fashion guru Isabel Marant, and an interview with Drew Barrymore.

Although I have never found the type of connection with Drew Barrymore that some Gen X-ers have, I couldn't help but feel one now. In this interview excerpt, she articulates a sensation that I have been experiencing over the past year or so. But because she is Drew Barrymore, she shares it through the perspective of a Hollywood star.

"For three years straight, I've been burning the candle at both ends, and as of last December, I just didn't have anything left. I've been so aggressive about living life to the fullest and being plugged into everything, but now I've ripped the plug out of the wall and put it on the floor for a while. I'm thinking about the same things as when I was 15, about spirituality and who I am, who I want to be. It's cocoon, pupa, larva, and fuck, I'm reborn!"

- Drew Barrymore, Elle magazine, August 2010

Intuition

Intuition (n., Eng.)/ Intuition (n. Fr.):

• The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; immediate cognition
• Knowledge gained by the use of this faculty; a perceptive insight.
• A sense of something not evident or deducible; an impression.

I have been thinking a lot about intuition lately. I find that I am having a hard time recognizing the difference between my intuition, and the mind's ability to influence my intuitive reactions and make rash conclusions. I came across a couple of viewpoints on intuition that I think are helping me to understand the difference. Of course my goal is now to tune in, listen, trust, and respond to these inner signals.

From Abraham Hicks:

Sometimes you walk into things, that, if you were paying attention, vibrationally, you would know right from the beginning that it wasn't what you are wanting. In most cases, your initial knee-jerk response was a pretty good indicator of how it was going to turn out later. The things that give most of you the most grief are those things that initially you had a feeling response about, but then you talked yourself out of it for one reason or another.

From Dr. Wayne Dyer:

For the non-spiritual being, the concept of intuition can be reduced to a hunch or a haphazard thought that accidentally pops into one's head on occasion. For the spiritual being, intuition is far more than a hunch. It is viewed as guidance or as God talking, and this inner insight is never taken lightly or ignored.

You know from your own experience that when you ignore your intuitive proddings, you end up regretting it or having to "learn the hard way".

To the non-spiritual person, intuition is completely unpredictable and occurs in random happenstance. It is often ignored or shunned in favor of behaving in habitual ways. The spiritual being strives to increase consciousness concerning his intuition. He pays attention to invisible messages and knows deep within that there is something working that is much more than a coincidence.

Spiritual beings have an awareness of the nonphysical world and are not stuck exclusively in a universe restricted to the functioning of their five senses. Hence all thoughts, invisible though they may be, are something to pay attention to. But intuition is much more than a thought about something, it is almost as if one is receiving a gentle prod to behave in a certain way or to avoid something that might be dangerous or unhealthy. Although inexplicable, our intuition is truly a factor of our lives.

For the non-spiritual person, this seems to be merely a hunch and nothing to study or become more attuned to. The non-spiritual person thinks, "It will pass. It is just my mind at work in its disorderly way " For the spiritual person, these inner intuitive expressions are almost like having a dialogue with God.

From Yoda:

If good, it feels, then do it you must. Yeesssssss.

Injury

(photo from sea of shoes)

Injury (n., Eng.): lesión (n., Fr.)

- physical damage or hurt
- Damage or harm done to or suffered by a person or thing
- A particular form of hurt, damage, or loss

Remember that pain has this most excellent quality. If prolonged it cannot be severe, and if severe it cannot be prolonged.

- Seneca

The injuries that befall us unexpectedly are less severe than those which are deliberately anticipated.

- Marcus T. Cicero

The thing about injury is that the moment it happens, it has already begun to heal.

- Me

Believe

(photo by Garance Dore)

Believe (v., Eng.): Croire (v., Fr.):

• to accept as true or real
• to expect or suppose

Cinderella: Oh, no. No, it isn't true. It's just no use. No use at all. I can't believe. Not anymore. There's nothing left to believe in. Nothing.

Fairy Godmother: Nothing, my dear? Oh, now you don't really mean that.

Cinderella: Oh, but I do...

Fairy Godmother: Nonsense, child. If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here. And here I am.
- Cinderella, 1950

Attendez

Attendez (v. Fr.): Wait (v., Eng)

• To remain or rest in expectation
• To remain or be in readiness

"I learned to wait. Waiting is very important...to find your voice, you have to make room. If you are always busy then luck can not find you."

- Francesco Clemente

See Francesco Clemente's 2008 interview with Charlie Rose here.

Nothing

Nothing, noun (Eng.); Rien (Fr.):

• having no quantitative value.
• Something that has no existence. Yet.

"Being 'in the gap' can be disorienting and even scary. Nothing to hold on to, no sense of direction, not even a hint of what choices and possibilities might lie ahead. But it was just this state of pure potential that existed before the universe was created. All you can do now is to relax into this nothingness... fall into the silence between the words... watch this gap between the outgoing and incoming breath. And treasure each empty moment of the experience. Something sacred is about to be born.

Nothing is not just nothing. It is vibrant with all possibilities. It is potential, absolute potential. It is unmanifest yet, but it contains all. So why in the middle do we make so much fuss? Why, in the middle, becoming so worried, so anxious, so ambitious--why create despair?

Nothingness to nothingness is the whole journey."

- Osho Zen Tarot

Reminisce

When you can see all the good that your life has been, is, and could be, your entire life's vibration will change.

Bask

Bask (verb, Eng.): to lie in or be exposed to a pleasant warmth. To enjoy a pleasant situation.

"But is it such a bad thing to live like this for just a little while? Just for a few months of one's life, is it so awful to...nap in a garden, in a patch of sunlight, in the middle of the day, right next to your favorite fountain? And then to do it again the next day?"
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Soliel

Soliel (noun, Fr.): Sun (noun, En.)

"Living on earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year."- Unknown

It is easy to get caught up in society's view of what is abundant and what is lacking. But it is all just a mind set. If you can just look around yourself for a few minutes at the beginning and end of the day today and note all the things you have in your life, you may begin to realize that your life is filled with so much, even if it seems different from what others may have. Today is the perfect day to begin to train your thoughts to focus on all that is abundant in your life.

Liberté

Liberté (Noun, Fr.): Freedom

"The desire of gold is nor for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Choisir

Choisir (verb, Fr.): Choose

"... Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life --the life you author from scratch on your own, begins.

- How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make?
- Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions?
- Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?
- Will you choose a life of ease, or a life of service and adventure?
- Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions?
- Will you bluff it out when you're wrong, or will you apologize?
- Will you guard your heart against rejection, or will you act when you fall in love?
- Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling?
- When it's tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless?
- Will you be a cynic, or will you be a builder?
- Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?

I will hazard a prediction. When you are 80 years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story...."

- Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos' commencement speech to Princeton's Class of 2010 on May 30, 2010.

Jolie

Jolie (adj., Fr.): Pretty

"Happy girls are the prettiest girls."
- Audrey Hepburn

Promises

"Promises are like babies, easy to make but hard to deliver."
- Unknown

"Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that this is humanly possible."
- Hannah Arendt

"We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears."
- Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld

"It is useless to hold a person to anything he says while he is in love, drunk, or running for office."
- Shirley MacLaine

Miracles

"Making miracles is hard work, most people give up before they happen."
-Sheryl Crow

Conflicted

Tupac has been making very profound appearances in my dreams recently. Bizarre. What could that possibly mean? Today, I stumbled upon this Tupac quote. Normally, I would have skimmed right over it and not paid any serious attention to it, but becuase Tupac's role in my dreams has been lingering with me during my waking hours, I stopped, pondered, and now I sit with it.

"Everyone is at war with different things. Sometimes I think I am at war with my own heart."

- Tupac Shakur

I guess Rainer Maria Rilke understood his plight:

"Be patient toward everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves.. Do not search for the answers which could not be given to you now because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything... Live the questions now."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Truisms

Jenny Holzer, is a well known artist who focuses on text, delivered via LED screens and projectors, as her medium. She is best known for her "Truisms", a series of text statements, from the late 1970's. The most famous of her "Truisms" is "Protect Me From What I Want" which was projected in New York Times Square in 1982. In her ironic view, culture becomes a continuous loop of creating and sating desires that we barely know we have—or want to admit to.

Here are my favorite Jenny Holzer "Truisms":

• Being happy is more important than anything else
• Calm is more conducive to creativity than is anxiety
• Emotional responses ar as valuable as intellectual responses
• Faithfulness is a social not a biological law
• Fear is the greatest incapacitator
• Go all out in romance and let the chips fall where they may
• It's better to be naive than jaded
• Just believing something can make it happen
• Pain can be a very positive thing
• Playing it safe can cause a lot of damage in the long run
• Repetition is the best way to learn
• The cruelest disappointment is when you let yourself down
• The sum of your actions determines what you are
• Unquestioning love demonstrates largeness of spirit
• When something terrible happens people wake up
• You must have one grand passion
• Your oldest fears are the worst ones

One of these days I will compile a collection of my own Truisms, but it is in its ground floor phase. Still.

Attraversiamo

This is the only Italian word that I know, and for good reason I suppose.

attraversare (Italian) verb
to cross, to go through, to run through

"I crossed the street to walk in the sunshine."
— Elizabeth Gilbert

Esprit

Esprit (Fr)./ Spirit (En.); noun: Life, or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; an intelligence conceived of apart from any physical organization or embodiment; vital essence, force, or energy, as distinct from matter.

“The most important thing is to work on the spirit, to feel like a feather — lighter and lighter.”
- Jil Sander

Soeurs

Soeurs (Fr.)/ Sisters (En.); noun
- A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another.
- A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically:
- A kinswoman.
- A close woman friend or companion.
- One identified as female and closely related to another.

“There can be no situation in life in which the conversation of my dear sister will not administer some comfort to me.”
- Mary Worley Montagu

Today I am grateful for the sisters that I am blessed with in all of the various cities where they reside.

Je t'aime

"When good Americans die, they go to Paris."
-Oscar Wilde

Traversée

Traversée
(voyage: noun): Crossing, passage, voyage, traverse

"I thought about one of my favorite Sufi poems, which says that God long ago drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where you are standing right now. I was never not coming here. This was never not going to happen."

"...people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't you will eat away your innate contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."


"...to travel is worth any cost or sacrifice."

— Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

Suivant

Suivant
(Following adj., prep.): immediately following in time or order; next, subsequent.

The great thing about Paris is that just when you have seen the most beautiful sight, had the most amazing experience, tasted the most delicious morsel, or sipped the most exquisite beverage, there is something even more magnificent around the corner. I think that this is true for life in general (it's your choice), but for me, Paris just heightens my awareness.

Déplier

Déplier (Unfold, verb)
To open

What does it mean to be open to everything and attached to nothing?

We are beings of unlimited potential and the only thing holding us back from experiencing whatever we desire is any limiting beliefs we hold about life. If we attach ourselves to a belief with enough conviction, we will effectively disallow any desire that doesn't align with that belief to manifest in our reality.

étreindre

étreindre:
Hug (verb, noun)
embrace, grasp, fold, enfold, lock

Research shows that when you hold your hug for at least six seconds you actually optimize the flow of mood-boosting chemicals like oxytocin and serotonin, and consequently feel better.

I suppose that this little bit of scientific research could be used as an excuse to embrace a certain somebody that you normally shy away from. So why not use it?

"Excuse me monsieur, could you help me elevate my oxytocin and serotonin levels?"

I'll bet if it is said in French, it will boost your mood even more.

Jamais

Jamais
(Never, adv.)
1. Not ever; on no occasion; at no time.
2. Not at all; in no way; absolutely not.

Speaking in absolutes is not something that a wise person does. But today I did just that. During a phone conversation with a friend I mentioned that I definitely would not be going back to the Eiffel Tower, I had had enough. Within ten minutes of hanging up the phone, what do you think happened? Yep, I was on the metro with friends heading straight towards the belly of the beast--next stop, Eiffel Tower.

Now mind you we were just going to meet up with some folks, who were staying at a hotel across the street from the Eiffel Tower, to escort them to our favorite wine bar. So we weren't intending to actually go to the Eiffel Tower. But regardless, it was a nice reminder that speaking in absolutes has no place in my vocabulary. English, French, or otherwise.

Patience

The word patience is exactly the same in French as it is in English. This is interesting because, no matter where I am, patience is the lesson I continue to have to learn. And Paris is my current teacher.

Patience is defined as the ability to tolerate waiting, delay, or frustration without becoming agitated or upset. It's the ability to be able to control your emotions or impulses and proceed calmly when faced with difficulty.

That definition makes patience seem like a negative thing, but I am learning that is doesn't have to be. In a world where we have become conditioned for instant gratification, to sit calmly and learn the art of savoring is something very favorable.

“All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope”
-Alexandre Dumas Père

Charme

Charme:

(Charm, n. & v. )

n.

• The power or quality of pleasing or delighting; attractiveness.
• A particular quality that attracts; a delightful characteristic.

v.

• To attract or delight greatly.
• To be alluring or pleasing.
• To cast or seem to cast a spell on; bewitch.

"There is no personal charm so great as the charm of a cheerful temperment."

-Henry Van Dyke

No mater where I go, what I do, or which language I speak, charme gets me every single time. It totally translates.