The Whole World and Me

After much consideration, I've decided to migrate my blog to Tumblr.

Here's the new address, hope you keep visiting ;)

http://thewholeworldandme.tumblr.com/

And watch this video.... I can only say this: we should always try to be as kind and as nice as we can to everyone around us...

When you lose someone (please note that for this post "lose" does not include lost per death) you will find yourself, sooner or later, missing that person. It's inevitable. Even the ones who were bad to you... after a while, the distance allows you to miss the good things and, consequently, the person. Or does it? 

Do we really miss the people who are no longer in our lives or do we miss what they made us feel? The other day, a friend introduced me to an interesting concept: the idea of co-memory - memories that are shared with someone and don't seem to exist if you we don't share them with that same person. It is true... I can recall that great summer I spent with my ex-boyfriend, but the memories won't be as vivid, as real, as if we would be talking about that same shared summer together.

Memories are inevitably linked to people, places, smells, tastes, you name it. And so, I wonder if when we miss someone we are really missing that person or just a feeling... because that person is also a link to a certain memory, which, in the end, is what you are really reminiscing about.

So in this game called life, where people are constantly getting in and out of your life, how do we know who/what we really miss? Can we ever know it? Maybe we will always miss the ones who made us happy, even if later on they were also responsible for our unhappiness. But, at that point in time, you shared a happiness together and that's really what you are missing. Furthermore, I think most of the times we also miss ourselves when we miss someone... We miss the person we were at that time, the way we felt, how we saw our lives at that particular moment...

I feel that most of us are constantly missing something or someone. We are perpetually living the past in our heads, thinking about those good old days, when everything was better. But ask yourselves this: Was it really better? Does that person, who you miss, the one responsible for your happy, better and easy days? Or in fact were you the one responsible for it? 

So, which one is true?...

Should we leave it unsaid? Just hanging in the air between us? It is safer, I admit. Talking about it would make it real and force us to really talk about it... I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. I find it cozy here, in this land of the unsaid. It's safe and warm and I can continue on without changing a thing. 

Except... maybe we should talk about it. Is it really better to leave it unsaid? Should we really continue our journey on this road with no name getting closer and closer to the point of no return? Maybe we shouldn't talk about it... If we do, we may lose this, this place we found for ourselves, this cozy, safe place... And yet, aren't we really living in a kind of limbo? Not really moving forward, nor really turning back and somehow not really living the present?

So... what should we do? Should we talk about it or leave it unsaid?..

I wonder...

Lately I've been thinking about self-knowledge. How well do we really know ourselves?

It seems that when confronted with this question, most of us refer to what others say about us, instead of what we know about ourselves. Again, the concept of reflexion is on top of my mind as we seem to only know ourselves as others see us. Most of us dread to be alone. Because when you are alone, no books, no TV, no iPhone, you are forced to listen to your inner voices and man, do we really want to hear them? Well, I think most of us do not want to hear them at all and yet, we all should!

Self-knowledge is power. It's the power to face the world and others with a sense of self that comes from within; it's empowering yourself with the right tools to face whatever comes your way, because no matter what, you know yourself, you know what you are made of, and that, my friends, is priceless.

And so I arrived at the Proust Questionnaire. Have you ever heard about it? I was first faced with it while studying in Paris, every student had to answer the questions on our first day of classes. More than anything else, the questions really forced me to think about myself in a way that I wasn't really used to. I think we were all a little bit scared by the questionnaire, but in the end it was a great exercise.

So this is my challenge for you today!

Go here and discover yourself. Maybe this will be the start of a new journey of self discovery :)

Happy feet = Happy girl :)

Story of my life or at least for the last couple of months!...

In between this busy time I have been trying hard to make my own dreams come true, but (there's always a but!!) the road that leads to dreams turned into reality is arduous. Alas, that's the way it has to be, otherwise how would you know if what you are trying to achieve is exactly what you want? 

Although I know this is a hard process, it is, nevertheless, hard to take some of the disappointment that's inherent to it. Some days I feel life would be easier if we just don't dream. If we don't dream, we don't expect and if we don't expect we keep our feet on the ground, and if we keep our feet on the ground we don't fall so hard. Yes, this is all true and maybe I would be a happier person, at least immediately, if I'd choose this path. But I'm a dreamer at heart, so what can I do except dream and dare to dream big? 

So once again, and continuing with the theme of my life this year, I'm caught in between, trying to find my path, trying to make my dreams come true. And there's really no plan B, either I make it or I won't, so I have no choice but to try, and try again and try harder until I make it!

I hope you are out there too, trying to make your dreams come true and I just hope you find your way :)