Nothin’ Like a Little Inspiration

I’ve been excited about today since the semester started. It was the first day of our photography class, which is called Le Flâneur Reconsidered: Documentary Photography in the Streets of Paris. Insert gasps of excitement here.

 

I, of course, woke up at 7:00am in anticipation and like any dorky kid on the first day of school, made a delicious breakfast. You know…brain food.

 

I had some leftover steamed broccoli and caramelized onions and peppers and decided to finish off the rest of them in an egg scramble. Nothin’ like one or two servings of veggies to get your morning started.

The scramble went perfectly with my GF quinoa bread (one slice with butter and Bonne Maman, and the other with a dab of almond butter).

 

With body and brain fueled, I packed up my bag (or should I say bags – purse, computer bag, camera case) and made my way to school. Obviously I was the first person there. Can you say dork?

 

Class was inspiring. My teacher, we’ll call her Dr. R, is free-spirited and contagiously passionate about all things photography…and well, life in general. The goal of the class isn’t so much to understand the technical aspects of photography, but rather to see things differently – to look for the untold story in the old man walking down the street, or the couple sitting in the cafe. The art in life I guess you could say.

 

As part of class we are encouraged to keep a journal. A say whatever the hell you want kinda journal – not one of those well this leather bound journal is just too nice so I have to say something profound or else kinda journals.

 

I couldn’t help but chuckle when Dr. R described it like this – I’m far too guilty of buying nice journals and never writing a single word because I felt like my worlds weren’t good enough to grace the pages of such fancy, overpriced paper. Pshhhh. Pretty darn stupid.

We talked a lot about having confidence when taking photos, and laughed when she described the worries of our generation. “You’re probably worried that you don’t have the right shoes on, or that something you say will be stupid, or that you might have gained a whole two pounds.” She made such a good point – we are so worried about how the world is looking at us, that we don’t take time to wonder how we look at the world.

Wisdom, my friends. Wisdom.

 

Everything she said hit home for me – I feel like I’m constantly caught up in worrying about silly things that don’t matter. Like, for instance, the fact that my body is a bit more, ahem, supple now that I’m here in Paris. Not because I’ve gained any weight, but I’m not practicing yoga as regularly and my body is changing. But it’s so dumb to worry about that when the Eiffel Tower is within spitting distance from my kitchen window.

 

And another thing – my future. Why am I so worried about what I’m going to do tomorrow, when I haven’t even gotten through today?

 

Well, I digress. But I felt liberated after listening to her talk. No more censor, my friends. I was on fire after her class, feeling totally inspired and wanting nothing more than to embrace that free spirit and just be. Like she says, “it takes some real ovaries to be yourself.”

 

Of course, all this inspiration worked up an appetite. My friend Jane and I wanted to continue channeling our inner artists and decided to head to lunch at La Rotonde, a famous cafe that is just a block away from school on the corner of Boulevard Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail.

It was frequented by many artists, like Picasso for example, in the early 1900’s along with several other cafe’s in the neighborhood. In exchange for coffee and baguette, artists would contribute paintings or drawings or whatever they could as payment. Unfortunately that system isn’t still in place

 

Nonetheless, our meal was delicious. I had my first bowl of French Onion Soup that was cheesy and delicious. I also had a salade au saumon – raw salmon with purple potatoes, carrots, and onions and a light vinaigrette. So. Flippin. Good.

   

My mind has been racing with ideas and thoughts since class today. I’m so excited for what the semester is going to bring, and even more excited to share some of my pictures. She’s given us several projects to think about – she wants us to develop a theme for our final project, kind of like a Paris through your own eyes thing.

 

Question: Do you keep a journal? If so, do you censor yourself when you write?

I’m so inconsistent with journals, but after hearing Dr. R talk today, I feel like I’ve been “given permission” in a way to just say whatever I want. She even mentioned she writes grocery lists on some of her entries, tapes certain things that catch her eye on some pages, and just writes whatever she is thinking of at the time.

It’s different with a public blog – it’s not so much a journal. I do try to write in a personal one every so often but always feel like there are so many rules! Ones that I’ve clearly made up for myself. Ones that I’m abolishing as of today

How about my fellow bloggers? Do you keep a personal journal as well as your public blog?

I guess the bottom line is there are no rules. I like that.

Tagged as: dining out, Lunch, Paris