twozeroonetwo

The pressure of a new year looms like that little ticking type bar anticipating your first letter at the beginning of a word document.  It’s meaning…ambivalent.  It could go one of two ways.  You could create something utterly brilliant, something that will move you and touch others, a work of inspiration and motivation.  However, you could produce something chockfull of mistakes, errors made along the way that will affect the overall entity of the piece.  It’s intimidating to begin, isn’t it?

All week I’ve been trying to come up with a resolution that would guarantee success, happiness, gratification.  I want to find one that glimmers with hope, one that sticks with me and shines with possibility…and apparently, it sounds like I want it to sparkle…

Exercise.  Eat well.  Be happy.  Keep in touch with old friends.  Try new things.  God, all are so redundant of years passed and resolutions failed.  Who wants to start a new year off with something that they’ve already failed at?!  It’s a recipe for a let down and a half.

Then, just a few minutes ago, literally since I’ve been sitting here trying to come up with something to say about a new year and a new beginning, I was struck by an epiphany.  The reason that we so unsuccessfully make and break our resolutions is in fact because we can’t wipe our slates clean. It doesn’t matter if the clock reads 12:00 of a new year; an illusion has been created that January 1^st is a time to start over again.  Mistakes made, failed resolutions, promises broken, rules bent…these are all embedded in the people we are presently.  We have made these errors for a reason, and that is to learn from them.

I guess what I want to encourage you to do is to focus less on welcoming in the new year and all its uncertainties, but take the last day of 2011 to reflect on how much you’ve changed and grown since last December 31^st.  Gently cast away 2011 with warm memories of a year gone by; revel in the past for a moment to appreciate the person you’ve become.  That’s how you can make this year different…not by planning on how to change, but by celebrating how far you’ve come.

Paris, je t'aime

Accordions seem like ridiculous instruments.  When I think of them, I imagine an obese guy dressed in ill-fitting overalls with a cigar dangling from his mouth and a little monkey dancing around.  Or I'm reminded of a distant cousin who was forced to entertain us at family gatherings by dragging out the clumsy instrument and laboriously muddling through what roughly sounded like "Memories All Alone in the Moonlight"...

But in Paris, the cheesiness fades away.  I couldn't imagine a more fitting soundtrack for the city.  I realized that Paris is a romantic cliche for a reason.  The view of the Eiffel Tower sparkling from the hills of Montmartre will be an image that I will keep with me the rest of my life.  I will always remember my hair prickling on the back of my neck when the blue beam of light struck my eyes...

What I've discovered about traveling lately is the way a city can run through your veins.  Perhaps it was all the love in the air, but Paris had a unique warmth to it that kept me warm even when an unexpected gust blew my way.  The city itself is one big giant art show; even the subway stations are home to some of the most clever and unique pieces I've seen this semester.

French onion soup.  Macaroons.  Ice cream.  Crepes.  Croissants.  Omelettes.  Before I virutally induce you into a food coma, I'll just say the best two words to describe my weekend are "food orgy".  Every meal gave the same satisfaction as opening one Christmas present after another.  Each morsel was magnificent.

My favorite memory of Paris will be our evening spent at Les Refuge de Fondue, where wine is served in baby bottles, graffiti covers the walls from customers past, and people are packed elbow to elbow like sardines at the tiny tables awaiting their deeeeeliciously decadent fondue.  The evening was filled with laughter and reminiscing; we shut the place down with the owners at midnight.

The trip was all too short for my liking.  Paris, I'll be back for you...