Unlock Your Dream charm pendant relisted at Bella Wish
Oh wow, I don't think I have ever enjoyed reading comments so much as I enjoyed reading about the juicy dreams some of you beauties have so bravely and boldly announced to the world in my last post. All are delicious. I smiled my way through each one and sent along all good wishes that each and every one of your dreams will come true. I love that it inspired some of you to write your own posts and to realize that the power of dreaming on its own is filled with beauty and hope.
Thank you so much for being brave, bold and announcing to the universe that you are ready for the magic to unfold.
This is fun for me as well, because it helps me to realize that together we can build a community of brave dreamers who support and encourage each other to share, take action through the fear and allow for space to see our dreams come to fruition.
Do you want to take the next step? I am going to explore more about the fears, hopes and rewards that accompany each of us on our journeys much more in my monthly column over at Wish Studio***, but for today I want to see if you all are ready to manifest a bit more magic.
I will share my story of how taking a few tiny baby steps toward living in Paris is unfolding a new pathway for me to explore, and I would love nothing more if you shared a baby step (or two) you have taken toward your beautiful dreams and the magic that is flowing for you for having done so. You may share either here in my comments, or in your own space, but if you do post about it on your blog, please leave your link here so I can read about it.
So, Paris...
The back story is five years ago when Jimmy and I were in Paris we both fell in love with the city. We had been dreaming of the day we would finally be there and it did not disappoint; it was so much more than both of us could have even imagined. I know, I know, Who doesn't fall in love with Paris, it's Paris! But something about being there connected deeply with both of us and five years later we still miss it so and think of our time there often, usually followed by deep sighs of longing.
Truth be told we didn't do that much touristy stuff while there. Our magic happened simply by letting the days take us where they wanted to take us. We got lost in neighborhoods we knew nothing about. We stumbled upon family-owned local bistros where we were warmly welcomed and shown nothing but kindness and hospitality. We spent hours in wine-soaked conversation in cafe's and marvelled at the way the light is captured and reflected off of the architecture in rays of pink and golden tones. We purchased food and wine at outdoor markets and navigated the train system pretty easily. We found that a simple Merci and S'il vous plait is as much French as you need to know starting out and is much appreciated amongst Parisans. Of course having a husband who speaks fluent Spanish also helps; I am convinced that most Europeans speak at least five languages.
Once we were back at home in Los Angeles, we tried to capture a bit of the European lifestyle here in our everyday life, but it's just not that easy; the mindset of the United States is based on a different set of priorities. While I love the freedom that America brings, I do believe that experiencing cultures besides the one we are raised in is the where our knowledge of compassion and understanding begin to expand on a global level.
I always thought living in France was just a romantic pipe dream. Much like our pipe dream to open a restaurant someday or publish a book. But once I started to live my life in a way where I realized that I truly can design the life I want, and those weren't just words, it no longer seemed so far off in the distance: Finding my partner in life, launching two creative businesses after years of being unfulfilled in a job, finding community through my blog and now taking the steps to raising my daughter to follow her own dreams all have me believing that whatever it is you want in this life is just a matter of taking action in some form each day to get you closer to that dream. I have found that each baby step not only gets us closer to our dreams, but also gives less and less power to the gremlins, the fears, the excuses that oftentimes stand in our way.
So, a few weeks ago when the idea of Paris started shouting at me words like, Paris is here and waiting for you, what is your excuse today? I realized that perhaps this was something I needed to pay attention to. What am I waiting for? Perhaps there is a reason Jimmy and I haven't been able to purchase a home here in Los Angeles though we've tried for years. Perhaps I could find a way to support my family with my creative endeavors so Jimmy could live his dream of being home with his daughter, at least for a year, with the icing on the cake being able to do that in Paris. The truth is that I don't want to be in Los Angeles too much longer and I certainly am not thrilled about the idea of raising Isabella here.
Quite simply, I decided it was time to unlock the dream. I told a close friend (that was easy), and then I told someone who I wasn't close with at all but who is truly inspiring (that was harder). Once I got past the fear of actually telling people it became more real. Of course it helps when their responses were practically giddy with support and encouragement and not riddled with pessimism and judgment.
I then thought about one small action I could take to get me closer. What would I need to know about moving to Paris so I could start planning? So I started to research what typical rent is on Paris apartments. I then did something daring and asked on both my Facebook and Twitter pages if I was crazy for researching rent on furnished apartments in Paris. This is the part where the magic takes over.
One of the responses was from my cousin whose best friend has lived in Paris for the last six years. My cousin put the two of us in contact and now she and I have been emailing back and forth about the logistics of living there. She has calmed my fears tremendously and has given me some pretty solid leads and wonderful suggestions on how to make this a reality. She loves her life in Paris and is excited about helping me get there. As it turns out, a year in Paris is completely doable if we sincerely want to make it happen. Plus knowing there is a pretty large ex-pat community helps tremendously. So, if the universe plays nice and decides not to test us mercilessly between now and then, our goal is to embark on our year in Paris at the beginning of 2011. Writing that here is huge.
One of the amazing things about running Bella Wish is that I get a fair amount of orders from gorgeous lovelies across the globe, god bless the internet, and one of my recent customers is from France. When she placed her order, I noticed she had both an American address in addition to her address in France. I decided to ask her about it, while telling her my own dream in addition. She wrote back to tell me that yes, she is an American who now loves her life in France. Turns out she is there studying wine-making (hello!) and her mom is a cook. Is her mom's website not the dreamiest? I instantly fell in love. They both live in Burgundy. Talk about living your dreams! When Jimmy, Isabella and I get to Paris, we are definitely traveling to Burgundy to pay then a visit. I may very well have to take one of her classes while there.
So, let's keep the dreaming big momentum going. Continue to share your dream with others so the universe can do it's job. Now tell me a baby step you have taken to get you one baby step closer to bringing that dream to life.
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** my contribution to the wishmama series is now up. you can read it here.
** this is the last day to get the sale price on affirmation pendants in my store. The sale ends tonight.
