Friday, April 1, 2016

What I’ve Been Reading…


Recently I finished the book Paris Letters by JaniceMacLeod. It's a memoir focusing on Janice’s life before deciding to leave her job and what happened after she got to Paris. I love it when I find a really well written memoir, because they aren’t always as interesting as the author would like for you to think they are. Janice is actually quite an inspiration to me. I don't think that I'll ever move to Paris (you never know, though!), but I do like what she did to prepare for her life there. I mean, she got all her worldly possessions down to one suitcase! Seriously.

Janice's story is more than about the paring down of “things.” It's about the self-discovery you make when you get rid of all the distractions blocking your way. She was able to create the life she didn't know she always wanted by using the skills she built up over the years from personal loves, like creating art, to the marketing of her art- a skill she picked up in her days spent as a copywriter.

What Paris Letters did for me was to solidify that I really can use my experiences to build the life I want to live. I've already begun to outline, make plans, and pare down on the things in my life that will be a distraction for me to become the person I want to be. While I won’t do everything on her list, which she kindly provides in the back pages of the book, I will start to really work on becoming the woman I desire to be. That self-discovery happened a while ago, I just need a gentle reminder sometimes. And who knows…maybe I will move to Paris someday!