A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 21 – Inspiration

“Inspire Yourself” is the title for Day 21 in Fiona Ferris’s book 30 Chic Days. It’s a tough topic to evaluate today because I was feeling the very opposite of “inspired.” The words “stir-crazy” and “cranky” were more accurate adverbs.

Fiona approaches the subject with a lighter heart. She keeps a notebook with ideas and words and questions that point her mind to chic and upbeat ideas. By directing her thoughts to positive-focused questions like “how can I keep a lovely and tidy desk?” (as opposed to negatively based questions like “why am I such a slob?”), she can inspire herself to actions that are more closely aligned with her goal to live a chic and beautiful life. Fiona’s theme is that approaching areas where we might want to make a change with our analysis focused in a positive direction leads to positive thoughts and positive actions.

My thoughts were not pointed in a very upbeat or lighthearted direction today. I was feeling confined and irritable and…. well, you get the drift. Happily, Fiona managed to come to my rescue today. I reread the chapter for Day 21 and then set myself out on a walk (carefully avoiding any other people and maintaining proper social distance!). On my walk, I tried Fiona’s 20 Questions approach. (By the way, I was so grumpy that I didn’t even bring pencil or paper – I was that convinced that the question thing wouldn’t work!) I asked myself “what are some fun and chic ways to uplevel my life that I easily can do myself?” Then I stalked down the block. About half a block later, a tentative answer popped into my mind. Then another, and another! Eventually, I had to stop and type the flow of ideas into my cell phone. (Yes, I was one of those funny looking people hunched over their phone standing obliviously in the middle of the sidewalk!)

I returned to my apartment in a much better mood. Later today, I will look at my list again and see what idea sparks my interest for tomorrow! Give Day 21 in Fiona’s book another read – I’ve tried one of her ideas and can honestly say that it worked for me!