Etre Coincé

(Monsieur Dries Van Noten)

être coincé (Fr.) Be stuck (Eng.): verb;  to be wedged in and unable to move further.

Ever find yourself stuck? Unable to find your inner voice in order to resolve an issue, define next steps, or manifest a lifelong dream?

Here's a quick and easy go-to for me when I find myself in this space...

I find that it helps to list out some people who inspire me. They can be role models, heros, or just people who I am admiring for whatever reason.

Then the next time I get stuck and am ready to let the Vampire of Despair kill my project I ask myself... “what would ___ do in this situation?” It also helps to write this down in a journal, notepad, or if you are like me, a blog. It makes it more real and therefore makes me more accountable.

I always seem to ask myself “What would Dr. Wayne Dyer say about this?” And he usually replies, "Ask Diana."

Here's my current admiration rotation:

• Dries Van Noten
• Madonna
• Dr. Wayne Dyer
• Diana Vreeland
• Oprah
• Scott Schuman
• Amanda F. Palmer

Who's in your rotation?

Attitude

(Scott Schuman of www.thesartorialist.com, in Paris)

Having a good attitude is likely to pay off.  

Just sayin.

But don't take my word for it...

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
- Winston Churchill

"A person who has good thoughts can never be ugly. You can have a crooked nose and a wonky mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."
- Roald Dahl

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.

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

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

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.

Delay

While our thoughts are the keys to unlocking what we experience, there is a buffer zone. Thoughts do not have the ability for instant manifestation without true intention. This gives us the opportunity to consider, amend and specify. So rather than experiencing an upset when you aren't seeing instant results from your focused efforts, look at it as a time for you to really hone in on the specifics of what you want.

Influence

What and who you have around you influences your happiness.
- Isaac Mizrahi, Unzipped

Patterns

I find myself revisiting some thought patterns that I have been trying to break away from. For the most part, I have been successful, but today I was reminded that it is easy to revert to old thought processes.

These patterns existed mostly in the way that I thought about certain situations. When things went awry, I used to turn all of my attention to them. I am not sure if it was out of a desire to correct the situation and make it all better, or if I was spending my energy resisting that it had even happened. It gave a lot of attention for those things to grow (the very things that were upsetting me). Lately, it has been easier for me to recognize and stop this negative spiral in its tracks, but I don't think it is realistic to think that I will never be bothered or affected by people or situations.

So in instances when I find myself slipping back to this old school thinking, I am better served to just acknowledge it, make an agreement with myself in terms of how much energy I should give it (uh, very little), and then move on.

A friend of mine put it simply to me today as I began to dwell, "Go ahead complain, take your Mulligan. And then move on."

Little

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
-Robert Brault