mine is the pink one!

avec plaisir en France...

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Hi Hi-

Have I mentioned I’m diving into Julia Cameron’s, THE ARTIST’S WAY? Believe me, I’ve had false starts in the past…half-assed morning pages, artist dates that petered out. Yet, for our sojourn in France, it seems the right thing to embark upon to re-establish my creative footing. So, I bought the book.

According to Cameron:

“The artist's language is a sensual one, a language of felt experience. When we work at our art, we dip into the well of our experience and scoop out images. Because we do this, we need to learn how to put images back. How do we fill the well….The artist brain is the sensory brain: sight and sound, smell and taste, touch. These are the elements of magic… in re-filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do… but do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.”

I’ve been writing my morning pages in bed with my coffee. I’ve taken myself on artist dates… to a plein aire drawing class at the charming museum here in Collioure, to a swim before 7a, alone in the calm sea beneath a chateau.

I am not a champion swimmer, nor am I a talented draw-er, I’m all in for mystery over mastery.

…

To reward myself for leaping in, at the market I eyed a pink mug.

“For the next seven months you’re going to cart a mug all over France? We already have so much stuff,” said my husband, the man who is carting a bicycle, his riding costume, his clickity-clackity shoes, his helmet with a REAR VIEW MIRROR! (It was the mirror that put me over the edge.) Of course I’m going to buy a mug! It seems incredibly sensible to treat myself to a little something-something that brings me pleasure in the morning. “Merci,” I said to the vendor who had carefully wrapped my mug in tissue and ribbon. “Avec plaisir,” he responded.

When one says “Merci!” here in France, the response is nearly always “Avec plaisir.” I love hearing that. “With pleasure.” I think that is what we should strive for. How much of a day can we spend doing something with pleasure?

What little gift did you bestow upon yourself? What do you do with pleasure?

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Thanks for reading. I hope your day is filled with amiable companions.

If you missed the last few jewels… no fear! Here they are: cookies. melon salad.
a novel. dance. poem. cake. friendship. school shopping. drawing.

To stay in the loop:

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Tell your people you love them, and take care of your skin!

Merci,