I think it's safe to say that autumn has officially arrived in Paris. Lucky for me, it's my favorite season, and I couldn't be happier to be sporting sweaters and boots. If only you all could see how pretty it is here. I had one of those magical watching-leaves-falling-while-contemplating-life moments today that I would love to share with everyone...
Today was a rather busy day - class in the morning, followed by a guided tour through a chateaux in the middle of the French countryside. It had belonged to a marquis who was clearly super rich and powerful, seeing as how his property was absolutely stunning. My favorite part of the trip, however, was not learning about the man, but his mistress: Ninon de Lenclos. While she was apparently extremely ugly, she made up for it in smarts and grew up to be a love doctor of sorts. After her stint as a mistress for several powerful men in France, she used her experience with lovers to provide advice for young men and women who would come to seek her guidance through their relationships. She was also, coincidentally enough for those of us who participated in "Tartuffe" this past spring at Lake Forest, asked by Moliere to edit "Tartuffe" when he was finished writing it. Go Ninon.
On top of this, there were the gardens, all of which were exquisitely designed and very well-kept. And as is the case with most things - be it paintings, portraits, statues, and the like - each garden had very specific symbolism. My personal favorite was the main garden, which consisted of a small labyrinth of hedges with a fountain in the center, surrounded by pink flowers. The symbolism goes as follows: the maze represents life, or the hardships we encounter and subsequently overcome. The end result is the fountain, or the clarity, knowledge, and wisdom that we gain with each experience. Not bad for a group of bushes and a slab of wet marble. It got me thinking about this very experience in Paris... Each day is like a roller-coaster. Every time I step foot out the door, I'm learning something new and feel that I will eventually reach that "A-ha!" moment, that moment when I say "Yes! This is why I came here." Unfortunately, these kinds of epiphanies are not the kind of thing you can go looking for. As the French say, we must "avoir patience", roll with the punches, and not force the outcome.
I suppose for me, the mission is not to find the sole purpose of this semester abroad, or any other period of time in my life that requires the aforementioned patience during drastic change. The mission in everything I do is to be more than content. I'm not somebody who enjoys change, sure, but I'm also not somebody who enjoys settling. During my freshman year at Lake Forest, I considered transferring a number of times; it wasn't because I was unhappy, it was because I was just okay. I wasn't ecstatic to be there, but I wasn't miserable either. I simply was. But becoming a seasoned expert in The Art of Being Content is not what I want for me, nor for anyone else in this world. There does come a time when we are given the tools to make something more than just good or alright, and that is what I strive for during my time in Paris. I love Lake Forest now, and I know what waits for me there: happiness, comfort, my friends... The kind of environment that I worked to make better for myself. As for this semester, I just want to walk away knowing that even though I may have felt lonely, homesick, longing to finally speak English, missing drinks with ice, or even that I smoked too many cigarettes, I was more than happy to have experienced all of those things...
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