raininjanuary

I am a midwest girl.  Grew up between Chicago and Minneapolis.  I know winter well.  It does not rain during the winter in the corridor of the US that I have spent the better part of my life.  So, you can imagine my complete state of awe when, last January at 2am, a thunderstorm descended upon the city of Chicago.  I was driving my little Prius home from work amongst the slosh and snow that is usually January in Chicago when all of the sudden it started to pour.  I pulled over and as my windows began to fog, I sat there in amazement.  I’m not sure why that moment hit me so hard but I realized it was one of those things that comes along only once in a very long while.  It is rare.  However, since thinking about it, there are thousands of moments like that in life, those that deserve a pause.  The moments we too easily roll through while focusing on the next thing.  They happen everyday.

About a year after that thunderstorm in January I up and moved to Paris.  I didn’t know a soul here and the best french I had was Bonjour, which I still say with a horrible American accent.  People have asked me why I chose Paris and there are a multitude of reasons.  One of the front runners is the french take their time, for better or worse.  I want to know that mindset.  I want to understand how work is simply something you have to do in order to live life.  As cliché as it is, I want to take the time to smell the flowers, not race by them on my way somewhere else.  Maybe this way it won’t take a thunderstorm in January to get my attention.

Like everything in life, I believe this takes work…slowing down.  I need accountability and structure when it comes to a task such as this, hence the blog.  If for nothing else, it is my account of the things in life that give me pause for even a moment.  Things that make me smile like a kid.  Whether it be the crazy woman in full ball attire walking down a busy boulevard in Paris or the most amazing latte in LA, it is something.