There’s a camera in some corner of Paris facing the Eiffel Tower. It streams a live view of the city online. When I was nineteen before moving I watched it all the time. In every way, I was well on my way to the good and bad clichés so many of the Parisians I now call my friends indulge me in. I fantasized about only the simple things – where I would grab my morning coffee, the view out my new window, the outfits I would wear. Time went on and life was anything but simple. While our city is the place we live, it won’t give you much more than a pretty view – the rest is earned. When times are tough I try to remember that feeling I had when I was on the other side of the camera. My years here have taught me the grass is not greener on the other side, the grass is green where you water it. Some weeks you get nowhere other than right where you already are, and Paris isn’t a bad start. Other weeks (like this one!) you get great news and see all the tiny seeds you’ve planted over the years growing into beautiful flowers just in time for Spring. It might not be enough to keep me forever but for now it will do. In the mean time I have no problem punctuating life with some good American in Paris clichés…
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