A Chic Paris Lockdown – Day 24 – Bloom in Place
May 13, 2020
“How To Love Where You Live” is Day 24 in Fiona Ferris’s 30 More Chic Days. Fiona discusses how we can make the most of our present location even if it not our “forever” place. She advises us to take our “dream” location and really analyze what is it that resonates with us. If we can describe both the particular attributes and the emotions that the “dream” location evokes in us, it may be possible to incorporate some of the list items in our present experience.
This chapter has some good ideas. Even if we are feeling “stuck” in a geographic location that feels as inhospitable and uncomfortable as the dark side of the moon (without a spacesuit), we can create a better “fit” if we can engage our imagination. We are there for some period of time (even if we are planning to get the heck out as soon as possible), so we might as well see if we can make our experience of it even a tiny bit better.
Fiona’s advice to make a list of just what we enjoy about our “dream” location/life is a powerful piece of advice. With a list that clearly defines what makes us feel comfortable and happy, we just may be able to incorporate one or two entries. For example, one of the many things that I like about Paris (as well New York City, San Francisco and many other European cities) is that people walk their errands every day as a matter of course. When I would visit for a holiday, I loved all the walking and the pretty scenery that I could enjoy as I wandered the city. I liked the feeling of freedom of movement and the feeling of connection to my surroundings. In my small Southern town where I was living, a car is necessary for pretty much all activities of my day – dropping the children off at school, picking up groceries, meeting friends for lunch. I didn’t like feeling so dependent on the car (what happens when I am no longer able to drive? and where do I park the thing?) and I didn’t like the feeling of isolation that being in the car much of the day gave me. There was no sense of connection (unless it was to the interior of my car) to the actual town or to other people as we all sped by each other – each barricaded away in our metal isolation chambers.
Once I identified what I felt was missing in my daily experience, I looked around for a daily walking opportunity. Sadly, there is no real mass transit, and neighborhoods are located far from shopping areas so driving outside of the neighborhood is mandatory. I did find that I could do a morning walk for about 45-60 minutes each day which did help me feel like I was actually living in my neighborhood (as opposed to just driving through on auto-pilot – with the interior of my house and the interior of my car as the sum total of my outer experience.) From the morning walks, I met other walkers and early morning gardeners. I also saw the turn of the seasons and the wildlife that lived all around me. It wasn’t like actually living in Paris but it certainly made my daily experience better.
Another thing that I like in Paris is how people are aware of and very thoughtful about food. The market streets and daily outdoor markets make food shopping fun and easy. You don’t need to drive anywhere (because there are market streets and daily outdoor markets everywhere) and you don’t need to budget an hour for the mega-grocery store (with its harsh fluorescent lighting and miles of aisles) nor do you need to budget 20-30 minutes of unloading the car and putting everything away. True, I stop by the market street shop probably every other day (not once every week or two weeks.) I walk down the street anyway and can easily step into a fruit&veggie shop to pick up one onion, one head of broccoli, and maybe 2 apples (all organic “Bio”). I pop them into my shoulder bag and I’m out of the store and back on my way to where ever I’m going. It takes all of 5 minutes. And the interior of the shop is lovely. (One caveat: strangely, patrons are expected to put their own purchases in their bag – the clerk rings up the sale and then watches me as I take care of the payment and then bag my own items (no concept of maybe the clerk bagging my items at the same time as I am pulling out cash from my wallet or swiping my debit card.)
Happily, back in my US town, we had several nice, yuppified grocery stores come to town (like Fresh Market, EarthFare and WholeFoods) which brought in the concept of organic produce and nicer looking store interiors. I still had to drive to them but at least, there was a better selection of healthy food (or at least it looked better to me) and not quite so many green-ish fluorescent type lights glaring at me. A pretty “farmer’s market” started on Thursday evenings near my house that my family and I could walk to and enjoy during the Spring and Summer months. I made the effort to take more advantage of nicer food experiences once I recognized that food shopping & presentation was one of the things that I really enjoyed in Paris.
Fiona has some good ideas to offer to help us open our eyes to exactly what it is we like and why. Understanding ourselves is always a good first step in helping us enjoy our daily experience better.
Here is a quick snap of a pretty door number from earlier today:
