Dear February,
I need a very dynamizing thought to accompany me for the rest of the day. You see, I have four steps to fulfil until March 12 for my application, and I am close to finishing the first one 🙂
http://brightdrops.com/best-inspirational-quotes
Dear February,
have you met the fairy Gunnmother? You’d better not, she doesn’t seem a very friendly kind of person. I am talking of course about a character from the book of Daniel Pennac, a book waiting for me to open and finally… read it!
Usually, you read these books at school, but if you have passed them by, it is something rediscovering them as a grown-up (more or less). I read this summer the first of the series, and after all, Daniel Pennac is part of the OULIPO literary circle that I particularly appreciate 🙂
It seems that a dose of suspense, romance and humor is my kind of thing.
I have read the first one, “The Scapegoat”, this summer, and for some reason I did all these irrelevant things (falling in and out of love, and in again, leaving and returning to Paris, … blogging) and I finally come back to the second book.
Benjamin Malaussène is again the main character. Quiet different from Victor Legris that I started to find attractive. Benjamin is not someone who lives with his foster-father after his 30s. Benjamin is foster-father to his younger brothers and sisters. And a scapegoat to people who look for someone to blame. His love life? “Tante” Juliette. No, she is not his aunt. She is a journalist, and someone who finally helps him out a little bit in more than one ways.
Benjamin lives with his family in Belleville, a Parisian neighborhood open to migrants of different origins, and much more than that of course.
The book starts with a murder: an old lady shoots a young policemen without apparent reason.
To be continued…
Dear February,
what would you suggest in terms of an exotic island? Just to motivate myself I started day-dreaming of beautiful weather, beaches, and people. Isn’t this a good compensation for the serious and efficient work I have been doing ;-)?
In Europe? I don’t know. Let’s say that I am open to suggestions. What is my budget? I don’t see what you mean.
The Greek islands for something near by? Yes, I have friends who are crazy in love with them.
Hawaii? Tahiti? I might try Bora-Bora for example. A good friend of mine was sent to Tahiti for work and came back completely enchanted 🙂
But in the meanwhile, getting close to nature, even a small park, might do 🙂
February 24b : Since I need to make my own luck, but stay open to miraculous- or other help, I reblog this November post, very appropriate for me right now 🙂
Dear November,
I am ready to go to bed after a rainy day in Paris, and dividing my time between my favorite cafés and meetings with certain artists I would like to work with.
As I finally returned home, I started browsing some web pages and came up to “How to make your own luck” and the advice given seemed quiet interesting:
a. Be assertive and proactive
b. Believe in a goal
c. Put deadlines on your goals
d. Expect great lucky ideas to occur to you, but do not worry, if you’re not inspired right now.
e. Raise your expectations
f. Work smarter, not harder
g. Seek new experiences
h. Be positive
i. Persist!
And in case this doesn’t work, there is always another possibility 🙂
How to pray to God for a miracle:
a. Visualize clearly what you want
b Take a moment to calm yourself and connect with God
c…
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February,
could you and March put together a miracle for me?
Or should I do everything myself? Come on! I need an extra lucky configuration where a lot of people collaborate with me and/or are particularly favorable to my artistic project and myself. By March 12.
I need loads of inspiration and the motivation to ask for help in an enthusiastic way – this has not been my strongest point until now.
Let’s say that I would prefer everything handed to me on a silver platter.
“Here you are April: do you need millions of euros, the best working conditions, an office with a view to the river, to make your dream reality?
How about a foot massage?
Or a group of cheerleaders following you around in order to encourage you? “Go for it April, Yes you can! ”
Or/and a powerful mentor who says “this is IT”!
Yes, I would love all these and more. But the first step might be to cheer myself up and believe it is possible to deliver in this deadline.
After all, I need to try in order to see 🙂
https://www.google.com/search?q=hand+opportunities+on+a+silver+platter&source=lnms&tbm
Dear Feb,
after a shy Monday start, in terms of working rhythm, here I am in front of my favorite “noisette” coffee, and my notes, taking the day by whatever I can possibly grab it.
Yes, I am in my February favorite café, at the Center of Paris.
It could be afternoon for others, but I am in the creative part of the day, what counts is the moment, and I start afresh right NOW!
Dear February,
I meant to do a lot of things today, but I finally had a very close relationship with my couch and my bed’s quilt for the first part of the day. Outside it was raining, and only latter I met some friends for brunch. It was nice to catch up. Among them, there was a “tourist”, friend of a friend, who just arrived in Paris and had a few questions.
“Where can I find contemporary artists and painters”? He asked me. Are there cafĂ©s, bars, specific places, as we see in films of the “Midnight in Paris” type?
Another friend answered he should visit these ancient hangouts but he shouldn’t expect anything similar today, but I am much more optimistic.
There might not be “a” particular cafĂ© for all the intelligentsia of Paris. Still, there are a lot of artists, of every kind, Parisians and people visiting, “intermittent du spectacle”, writers, actors and actrices, philosophers.
Much more scattered I think than during the “golden era”, as it is represented in films. Now there are social media and may be there is a different way to work. In my neighborhood for example, I see well-known authors, or at the place we branched there are a lot of actors and people of the media.
Are they as brilliant as …X, Y, Z? How would we know for sure?
When Van Gogh was trying to sell his paintings no one was interested. They worshiped painters who have been forgotten and we have never heard of today.
If there is a flow of ideas, imagination, creativity, things happen.
But you still need time to discover. And the eyes to see 🙂
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
― Confucius
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/seeing
Dear Feb,
I hope you don’t mind this form of intimacy, February. You have been around for a while, so it feels like this is the moment to have a conversation with you: on speaking up my mind. No, I don’t mean I have been lying to you until now. Don’t be susceptible!
What I mean is, you have been watching me interacting with people, so you will understand.
Let’s say we go out for a drink, coffee, or herbal tea. We engage into a conversation, and then you say something I don’t like. It might be on purpose or not. I find it hurtful, in any case. So, how do I react? Do I answer back? Tell you, wait a second here, … ?
It could be a casual friendly relationship, a flirt, it could be an intimate relationship, and this is more tricky.
What I do, personally, is that I might think: Â “I don’t like what you say, but I’d rather not tell you directly, I don’t want an argument”.Â
But still, I will not feel ok, and this will affect our relationship, because I might withdraw.
So is it better to speak up my mind?
If one person for example starts criticizing something I like, let’s say, blogging, or being a Parisian cafĂ© fun, …
Finally, YES, I think it is better. It is good to say: “you are trespassing here, darling. I don’t like what you do to my personal garden, that I nurture with care and love”.
If I don’t, I might be an indifferent gardener. And this is not a basis for any kind of healthy relationship.
So, dear, you don’t have to like my habits, approve of my behavior or life-style.
But if you want to be friends, respect our difference and love what you don’t understand.
http://www.sacredcirclecreativelife.com/uncategorized/speak-up/
Hello February,
happy -Chinese- New Year’s Eve! I have extremely enjoyed New Year’s Eve with Chinese friends in Belleville, the Parisian Chinatown in previous years! So great! Watching the dragon dance and tasting excellent food at a traditional restaurant, is something to remember!
Friendship is probably the best way to get in touch with another culture, that is, if you don’t travel there yourself!
Discussions, and participation in different festivities, food, is an entrance to other people’s hearts 🙂
This good friend of mine is now back to China and I really miss him!
Xie Xie dear friend for introducing me to a new way of thinking!
Dear February,
feeling a bit tired to get into a conversation with you, I just want to share a manifestation of Beauty that inspired me today: the “Atlas of Beauty”, by Mihaela Noroc. This artist visited more than 60 countries with her backpack and camera to capture Beauty from different parts of the world.
We can identify with it.
Because we are ALL BEAUTIFUL!!!
http://theatlasofbeauty.tumblr.com/
april4june6: A journal of self-tranformation 