A few days ago I was driving around in my car, running errands. The sun was shining. It was truly a beautiful spring day. I almost felt as if I were back in southern France. Having grown up there, I can honestly say that I am a great connaisseur (that's French you know!) of what constitutes a beautiful day: sunshine, blue skies, birds chirping (no cigales/cicadas here) a bit of a light breeze, and the uncontrollable need to do nothing productive. On that day in my car, life was very good indeed!
A song came on the radio, and I thought it was just so a propos! The artist was singing about remembering the Doodle days. I thought: What a cute play on words, the Doodle days!
I certainly remember my early Doodle days with great fondness. Those were the days when I would find any opportunity to Indulge in one of my favourite pastime such as griffonner et dessiner (doodling and drawing). A la campagne (in the countryside), I would climb to the top of a hill, sit among le thym et le romarin (the thyme and rosemary), and I would draw that 11th century Romanesque chapel in the distance. A la plage (at the beach) a stick would become my drawing tool, and the whole plage my forgiving canvas.
You can take the girl out of France, but you can't take France out of the girl.
To this day, I treasure any Doodle day, or even any Doodle moment, when I mindlessly engage in Fun, Relaxing, Creative activities; one of my favourite being painting, with a brush in one hand, a glass of vin rouge (that's right ladies, red wine!) in the other, and Mozart in the background. The whole world seems to disappear and mon esprit (my mind) finds a Restful place to spend some quality time.
Here in North America, the philosophy of life still focuses on The Pursuit of Happiness, while in France, we believe in La Joie de Vivre (the Joy of Living) and La Douce Vie (The Sweet Life). To tell you the truth, the French can be a rather fatalistic lot; so they b elieve it is best to Enjoy each day fully, in as many ways as possible. And yes, one of those ways is to Enjoy a beautiful sunny day, doing not much at all, or at least nothing overly productive, as per our North American standards anyway.
Do you have Doodle days? And if not, do you remember them?
What did you used to do as a child that allowed you to escape? Where did you go? What were your favourite activities? Do you still have Doodle days? And if not... why not? Do you know why you should? Do you even know where to start?
Why should you bring back the Doodle days?
Because our brains are always going, even during the night (please tell me it's not just me mentally making lists at night!), they rarely get a Rest. We can Rest our bodies, but we find it much harder to Rest our minds. And so, we become forgetful and feel overwhelmed.
You should bring back the Doodle days because you deserve a vacation. You work hard and most likely take care of s everal people around you. But the likelihood of you going away on vacation to the South of France on a weekly basis is probably rather remote, right?
I thought so...
So... where do you start?
How about at the beginning... You may not have grown up in France, but I'm sure that when you were young, doing pleasurable things came to you naturally. You didn't over think anything and just went with your impulses. And here is a key component... You didn't feel guilty for not doing anything productive. Right?
So... remember what it was you used to Love doing, it could have been running, watching the clouds while laying on your back in the soft grass, watching the river run by, doodling even... you get my drift! We may not currently be living on la Cote d'Azur (the Riviera), but we do have sunny d ays, and blue skies, and some of the nicest waterways in the world.
Now... DO IT! Be more like the French once in a while.
This French girl is DARING you!
Start with setting aside an hour a week, it will still have an impact
Choose an activity which you may not usually engage in
Do it alone. It's YOUR time!
Do it without guilt! You REALLY are worth it!
Enjoy learning how to experience Pleasure all over again
Let me know how it's going for you!
And so...
Call upon your inner petite Francaise (French girl) After all, I'm sure there's some French in your ancestry; with our reputation, there's got to be some in everyone!
I promise you that if you take time for yourself, doing things that are not productive, and do it regularly, you will see an amazing change in everything else you do. Your mind will be clearer, your soul will be at peace, you will like yourself a whole lot better, and so will everyone around you. You'l l have that Je ne sais quoi (ok I'm not translating this one... not doable!) quality about you!
Oh...and yes, by the time the song was over I realized that the singer was not remembering the Doodle days, he was singing about the Good Old days. All the same...
Born and raised in France, Astrid DesLandes, the French Culture Expert, provides passionately spirited seminars, articles and tele-classes for women of all Cultures, revealing to them her French Women's Secrets to creating their own delicious life.
Sign up for her fabulous FREE monthly e-zine and receive, delightfully French, stories, advice and event news at http://www.bellevieseminars.com
Author:: Astrid DesLandes
Keywords:: French, Culture, Happiness, Creative, France, Pleasure, Indulge, Fun, Relaxing, Enjoy, Rest, Love
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