Wednesday French Inspiration: Choosing Between the Good

There is beauty all around when there's pastries to eat.

 (What? Don't tell me you don't agree?)

From doors of the Parisian boulangeries, mouthwatering smells fill the air.  One is helpless to resist the heavenly scents.  Upon enter the shop, the charm and beauty of each pastry must be properly adored.  Getting lost in the beauty of each handmade creation, it is easy to forget that you must make a choice.  Oh but how can one choose?

There are so many front running candidates to be devoured and only so many euros.  This new found heaven  mocks you.  You want some of everything.  With every breath you fall deeper under the spell the spun by the artisans.  There are just too many good things, and you know you just cannot have it all.

When surrounded by so much good it is hard to choose.  Life would be easy if every choice were black or white, but shades of gray cloud up our decisions.  Sometimes it is left to us to decided from the good, better and the best.  Whether it is choosing a pastry or which chore to check off of our to-do list, life is full of tough choices. 

How do you choose between the good in your life?

The Value of Work

Growing up I can remember doing dishes, weeding gardens, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning my room all before I was old enough to start school.  I want my daughter to know the value of work.  I want her to know that the good things in life are earned, not handed over.

I want these things but have NO clue how to do it.  I have trouble letting her complete a chore that I know I will have to go and  repeat when she isn't watching so that it is done properly.  Little Princess is only three she will be four before the end of the year.  

What do you do to teach a 3-4 year old the value of work?  

Which chores are appropriate?  

I Can Breath Again

I haven't exactly been super active in the blogosphere recently.  You may have or may have not noticed.  But the first Trimester of pregnancy left me with little energy.  Doing anything more than watching my daughter seemed  impossible. 

Things have finally started to mellow.  Little Princess now goes to Joy School two days a week.  Of course these means that one week a month I have a teaching obligation.  But it is nice to have a few hours to myself.  I can browse my google reader and visit blogger.  And the goal is eventually to open up the document with my WIP and tackle some more writing.

While Little Princess is learning, I sit in Panera with my laptop and enjoy the peacefulness of freedom.  More than anything I just wanted to say Hello.  I am still alive here, and I have missed you all so much.  I can't wait to catch up on what is happening in your lives.

Wednesday French Inspiration --Finding Time

Behind one of the Large clocks in the Gare d'Orsay or  Musée d'Orsay

There is a time for everything,  a time for nothing, and a time for the things in between.  A time for painting, a time for cleaning, a time for mothering, a time for writing, a time for exercise, I even hear there is a time for sleeping (I am not sure if i believe it though.)  It can get awfully hard to figure out how much time to allow for all the things I need to accomplish.  

However, without planning nothing gets done.  Timing seems to play a key role in all aspects of life and writing for that matter.

How do you divide your time?

Wednesday French Inspiration --Rising to the Top

One of my favorite experiences in France was visiting Cassis.  We drove up to the summit of Cap Canaille.   The cliffs over look Cassis and the Mediterranean sea.  As you stand at the edge, there is no safety measures to keep you from swan diving or tripping to a sudden death.  Well, it would not be sudden; the fall would take a while.  But the beauty is overwhelming.  The distant landscape dwarfs you.  You become small, insignificant, and if you are my husband, slightly woozy.   At the same time, the view shares with you inspiration and hope. Standing at the top of the world, you have never felt so small; you have never felt so grand.

It made me think about the trials I have faced and will yet face in my life.  The distance and height that is still yet to travel to achieve the dream.  At times I definitely feel small and insignificant.  But as I look back over how much I have already accomplished I am inspired to go further, and I feel the power I have within me to live my dreams.

Rise to the top.

Conquer your goals.

  When you look back, enjoy the view.

Embrace the power within yourself.

Wednesday French Inspiration

Veiled Lady in the Louvre

(Taken from the Archives of Seriously Amber Lynae)

This statue reminds me of the statues in the newer Pride and Prejudice film. There is something quite hypnotic about her face with the veil. How is it that the sculpture was able to show the details of the face and the veil over at the same time? So much detail and emotion can be created from marble.  It is awesome that marble -so hard and formless- can be carved into beauty- flowing and whimsical.

  I hope that you enjoy this piece of Paris and take this message with you :

No matter how hard any situation may appear at first, you can make out of it what you choose.  You can choose to let life crush you, or you can carve life into something that will have people staring with awe.

I hope that you will choose the latter.

Wednesday French Inspiration --Reaching Goals

Stranger biking the country roads of France

Today is stage 9 in le Tour de France 2010.  It just gets me thinking of all the work the competitors have put into being about to make 3,642 kilometers trek.  Not many people would be physically able to survive the race.  However, each participant has trained and put in the necessary work.  The race is not something entered unprepared on a whim.


It is this knowledge that inspired these thought/reminders:

Life is meant to be lived with purpose and we cannot reap what we have not sown.  

For me this reminder was a much needed push to get me to stop whining and start doing.  There is no someday but today.  So I will use today to start changing the things that are not as I would have them be, because no matter how hard I wish on the evening star it will not change the fact that life takes effort. 

 What goals are you working to accomplish?

How do you keep yourself motivated and consistent?