The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Bien dans ma peau

Are you comfortable in your own skin? The French have a similar expression for it: "être bien dans sa peau" which literally translates as "to be well in one's skin". In either language, it's that sense of genuinely LIKING yourself, inside and out. Of being happy with the person you are, and with the way your body looks and functions, even if you aren't perfect by someone else's standards. For most of my life, I have not been bien dans ma peau at all. While I'm very happy with the person I am on the inside, as long as I can remember I have struggled to reconcile the outer me with the inner me. If I tried, I could count on one hand the number of occasions when I have actually felt good about my body and the way I look. For a woman of 45, that's not a great average. Weight loss experts tell us that there is a difference between self image and body image. For a long time I confused one with the other. It took me a while to realize that I really do have a positive image of my SELF: my spirituality, my humanity, my... Read more →

Wafting

The scent of freshly-cooked applesauce is wafting down the hallway into my bedroom where I am attempting to get some work done. But my mother's home-made applesauce is distracting me, beckoning, tantalizingly yummy. I like the smell of Macintosh apples so much that I have a Mac-scented air freshener in my car (which happens to be a bright red). There's nothing like apple season in New Jersey. We're not called "The Garden State" for nothing; despite what you might think if the only view you've ever had of New Jersey is Newark Airport, we grow some of the country's best fresh seasonal produce right here. Strawberries in May. Corn in July. Tomatoes all summer long. And every autumn, it's apples, LOTS of apples. You can go to farms where you can pick 'em yourself. You can buy freshly squeezed apple cider at an orchard farm (and usually get some excellent cider donuts to go with it). And of course there's nothing as American as apple pie. (Which you can Frenchify with a little ice cream à la mode.) I've lost a full 20 pounds now (can you see the smile on my face?) and still working at losing more, so... Read more →

Mum's the word

Validation

OK, so it's pretty obvious I love to write, or I wouldn't be here (neither would you, come to think of it). I don't know if you're someone who likes to write, whether it be poetry, your own personal journal or blog, or articles or books, but whether you are a writer or you happen to know a writer, then you know that one thing writers love and crave is: VALIDATION. There is nothing like writing something from your heart and having someone else tell you they loved it. Even if you're someone like me, someone who tends to be just a tiny bit distrustful of compliments* because I'm never entirely sure I deserve them (my ex-shrink would probably have a lot to say about THAT), when someone tells you they love something you've written, it's music to your writer's ears. And when you're a writer who is attempting to establish herself not as a copywriter (although that's part of how I earn a living) but as a marketable creative travel writer, then having the editor of a travel publication tell you she LOVES your writing style, that it's "fabulous" and "Lisa, where have you been? I've been desperate for... Read more →

The Importance of Proofreading

I'm taking a certification course in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and was intrigued by a discussion in the text on why the spelling of the English language is so difficult, even for people born in an English-speaking country. The discussion cites a number of reasons that English -- a rich and truly "hybrid" language which evolved from the Germanic but has been greatly influenced by French, Latin, Greek and Indian languages -- is so complex in both spelling and pronunciation. These reasons range from: a change in pronunciation in English dating back to 1400 ("lyf" was pronounced "leef" but became "life"); Norman/French influences on spelling ("island" with it's confusing silent "s" derived from the French "isle"); and Latin spellings becoming fashionable during the Renaissance (where "dette" became "debt" based on the Latin "debitum"). But my favorite on the list of reasons why English is such a nightmare to learn -- and the reason people like me can earn a decent living as copywriters and editors -- is chalked up to sheer CARELESSNESS. Apparently, the early monks, who were some of the world's first educated intellectuals and book "printers" before the invention of the printing press, simply made... Read more →

Instructions for Dating Re-Entry

As if I haven't got enough to think about lately -- what with moving to France and dealing with the unexpected twist in those plans, studying for a TEFL certification, resuming my French lessons, finishing outstanding client projects and trying to line up some new ones, trying to lose weight and trying to spend time with my friends and family before I leave in November -- for some time now, I have been trying to get myself back "out there". As in "out there in the dating pool again". I am ambivalent about dating again. On the one hand, I've been alone way too long, and not only is that no fun but it's unhealthy, not having love in one's life. I DO want to meet a nice man, someone I can really love and be loved by, in all the right ways. But on the other hand, I'm scared. Scared of being hurt again, yes, but for some reason the thing I'm scared of is that I've completely FORGOTTEN how to be around men in a romantic sense. I haven't been in love since 1997. I haven't been on a date or been (ahem) intimate with a man since,... Read more →

Leaner and less mean(er)

That catch-phrase, "leaner and meaner", always felt wrong to me. I don't know about you, but I'm a lot less mean -- to myself and to others -- when I'm feeling good about myself. So being leaner brings out my nicer side. I certainly smile a lot more. Getting leaner, on the other hand, can really make a girl cranky. As anyone who has ever struggled with weight loss knows, when the weight comes off easily and steadily, you feel on top of the world. Seeing progress makes you feel like there's hope for the future, your future. But when you hit a plateau, when the scale just won't cooperate despite your own best efforts, when you know you're working hard to lose that excess poundage, it's enough to make you want to bite the head off the first thin person who gets in your way (except who needs the extra calories). I'm what's known as a "slow loser" (at least they don't call it a "poor" loser - that's another idiom). I've got a slower-than-average metabolism, but not one that shows up as "slow" on any lab test (and believe me, I've checked). I gain weight easily and it... Read more →

Unexpected detours

Just when you think you've got your life all figured out for a while, Life lets you know it has a plan of its own. It just doesn't always bother to tell you what the plan actually IS, or give you any warning whatsoever. Life is kind of a pain in the derrière that way, n'est-ce pas? I was enjoying a wonderful "goodbye, I'm off to France" lunch with my friend Lynda this afternoon. She was over-the-moon thrilled for my plans to move to Paris and she's someone I expect will really come to visit me while I'm there, so we were enjoying talking about all of that. Then she had to take a business call. While she was on her phone, I decided to check my messages because I was hoping for an important call from a prospective new client. Instead, I had another message -- a very distressed-sounding call from P., the woman whose apartment I am was supposed to be renting for the coming year. The call did not sound like happy news. Not wanting to wait until I got home to find out what could possibly have gone wrong with our plans (whatever it was, it... Read more →

Hybrid French

Fuel-efficient cars (like Mrs. B's new baby) aren't the only things going "hybrid" these days, a blend of old and new. Apparently my fellow French students and I have starting speaking "hybrid" French in our quest to transition to fluency in our "new" language (although we've all been at this for years -- and years -- and it's not so new anymore). Me, whispering in English to Melissa while our teacher Martine was explaining something to two other students: "What's the French word for 'toddler'?" Melissa, making a face as she seriously considers the question (given that she HAS a toddler at home), replies also in English -- with one small exception: "Hmmm... I don't know if there's a mot for that." Both of us: practically rolling on the floor laughing at how absurd it sounded and how it just popped out of her mouth. She's not alone. Yesterday at the consulate I'm pretty sure I was doing the hybrid French thing, English for a few words followed by a few French words, all mixed together in the same sentence. The scary thing is that I've also started doing it, without realizing until the words have already slipped from my... Read more →

Health Insurance for Ex-pats

Any ex-pats out there who have international health insurance with "worldwide coverage" (with or without US coverage is fine): I'm looking for recommendations on good companies with decent coverage and reasonable rates. Also would like to know what companies to avoid. I've selected one plan quickly in the interest of saving time and getting my visa application underway but I'm going to continue to shop around for an even better plan as there are things about this plan I'm not entirely happy about. Please send your recommendations to me at this address ASAP. Thanks! Read more →