Life Is Waiting For You

Paris life lessons.

image credit-midjourney

I once spent a perfect week in Paris.

But I almost didn’t go because—you know—I was too valuable at work, and my clients’ lives might fall apart if I didn’t work a six-day plus workweek.

Then, l found out the truth and learned a few fundamental lessons.

It started after a divorce. I realized I didn’t need a car because I could walk to work and shop in the small grocery store in an adjacent apartment building, carrying home what I needed every few days. I lived in downtown Los Angeles then, and everything, including my office, was within walking distance.

Each month, I saved the money the car had cost and decided to travel instead.

At that time, I believed that I was too important at work to ever take time off. Then another grandchild was born, and I felt impelled to spend one weekend a month with her, which was a short train trip down the Southern California coast.

That was the beginning.

I was probably worried that if I started traveling, I would love it so much that work would come second instead of first, and that is precisely what happened.

I discovered that I was not too important, that things went on without me, and that life had been waiting for me to discover it.

After a few months of saving, I had enough money to visit Paris, my lifelong dream. I asked both my daughters if they would like to go with me. I would pay for the travel costs. However, they were both caught up with husbands and babies, so I went on my own.

The details of that trip are as clear as if it happened yesterday, even though it was almost thirty years ago.

The plane ride from California to Paris was long but delightful because I was so grateful to be going.

I had packed light, knowing I would be lugging my bags around alone. In the middle of the night, I took a taxi from the airport to a bus stop and a bus to my hotel, all with the help of strangers who spoke my language even though I didn’t speak theirs.

I spent every day without a clock or any contact with the outside world other than the city of Paris. I got up when I felt like it, ate when I felt like it and went to bed when I felt like it.

I stayed at a little family-run hotel near the Arc de Triumph, so I walked through it every day on my way out and back in and felt the city's history within its stones.

I made no plans about what I would do. I walked where the whim took me.

I got on the subway and rode places, knowing I could get on another one to get back.

As I returned to my tiny hotel room at night, I bought baguettes from the bakery and grapes from the subway vendor.

When I couldn’t sleep, I read the one book I packed while I waited for it to be light enough to start walking again. I had two pairs of shoes to wear and alternated them each day.

After figuring out how to buy a phone card and use the public phone, I called home so the girls would know I was okay. Otherwise, I rarely spoke to anyone other than ordering food or occasionally asking for directions.

While in Paris, I felt at home. I would sit in the cafés for hours or stroll by the Seine. Churches didn’t lock their doors, so any time I needed to rest, I could stop in and absorb their silent beauty,

Many people thought I was from Paris, and I reveled in the fact that I looked like I belonged there. The few Americans I spoke to were shocked that I had traveled alone. I was shocked that they could only travel in packs.

I bought a pass allowing me to walk directly into any museum. So I would walk into one and out again, take a short walk down the road, find another, and walk in and out as slowly or as quickly as I wanted.

I noticed everything. Some days, I would see the same people repeatedly, even though I never knew where I would go. The order and symmetry of it all were wonderful.

I loved that they cleaned the sidewalks with big sprays of water every morning.

I loved the coffee and the croissants. I loved the light, the gardens, and even the brisk air. There was nothing I didn’t love about Paris.

I had told myself that if I wanted to, I could go live in Paris.

After spending a week there, I knew that I didn’t, not because I didn’t love it or that it didn’t feel like home, but because I realized that I could never get away from the fact that I wanted to be near my family.

This was surprisingly an incredible, freeing realization,

It was beyond delightful to visit Paris alone that year. I was grateful there was no one to travel with me then because I didn’t have to bend my desires to anyone.

It was a moment in time that I will never forget.

And now for those life lessons, I promised you:

• No one is so valuable that they can’t take time for themselves.

• Work will be fine without us.

• Making memories is one of the most valuable things we can do.

• Sometimes, we can discover what we want by trying out what we think we want on a small scale.

• Don’t wait for someone else to do what you want to do.

• No matter how random you think life is, it’s not.

• Going with the flow doesn’t mean things aren’t in order.
  

• Life is waiting for us to discover it.

Now go out and discover it, and let me know what you learn!