(This post is part of a series of daily letters from me to my future children reporting from the emerging paradigm.)
Dear Kids:
I have not yet been to Paris. This year is so weird for someone who loves to travel and conjure places to go. I have always longed to go to Paris but haven’t even been to Europe yet.
I wish I could go back in time and beg my college aged self to go study abroad. I was barely able to afford to go to college on my maxed out student loans I had no concept of how to get to study abroad. So I never tried.
I wish I had tried! Anyway, last year I kept thinking about how at some point I was going to go on a date with someone to Paris. It’s such an ideal place for a third or fourth date. I like to dream big and it felt really possible last year.
Every now and again in quarantine I like to take myself on mental vacations somewhere when I walk on my forest path. Sometimes I pretend I’m walking along the Seine.
I don’t know how sane I sound (about walking along the Seine…) when I say that. Our imaginations are an incredible tool that can help with our mindset, attitude and overall experience of the world. Imagining places isn’t insane it’s actually a really practical mindset technique.
2020 is the year of no FOMO. There’s nothing really to miss out on, unless you feel compelled to be at every virtual gathering or conference (I don’t). I gave up experiencing FOMO when I lived in NYC. You’re never not missing out in NYC.
Today I contemplated that I’m not missing out on Paris right now. I can’t actually go (fun little meme going around showing the very few countries that are allowing US citizens to enter). No Paris FOMO, though who knows for how long.
I long to travel again but am serious about public health and staying put.
xoxo,
Mom
This blog is entirely supported by Patreon. Every dollar counts to making this work sustainable and maintaining the archives of this blog. Thanks to my awesome Patronus supporters (as my mom calls them) for co-creating with me!