Le Rêve Qui Vive: An Announcement!

I’m a dreamer. More so, I’m a dreamer with some serious wanderlust. Sometimes I amaze myself that I can separate my dream thoughts with reality in order to live a normal life because I’m so lost within the clouds. So when I have the opportunity to marry those dreams with reality; to fulfill that need to travel and to experience, I feel positively blissful.

So imagine my happiness when I found out last week that I will be moving to Paris for 6 months.

In January, I will be beginning a study abroad semester in one of my favorite cities in the world. I’ve been there for a short time before, as part of a summer in France when I was in high school. But to actually live there, and experience life beyond the crammed touristy days is a dream come true. I have a special connection with France in general; my grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from France as a baby and I have a strong French ancestry. My mom studied in Paris when she was in college in the eighties, and my brother and sister both studied in France for their own study abroad experiences. What’s more, the magic that I felt a few years ago simply by being there has stayed with me ever since. It’s just one of those bonds that you feel in your soul.

I say six months because though the semester will last until May, my plan as of now is to stay in Europe as long as possible. I will certainly travel throughout the semester to other areas, to visit friends studying elsewhere and just to see everything. But ideally, I want to stay a long while after, seeing everything I can. The practical side of me screams “What are you doing? Come home and get an internship or do something.” But I also know that now is the perfect time in my life to do this. And you know what? Most of the seasoned adults in my life say the exact same thing retrospectively.

The quote I chose for this week, “Mieux vaut vivre son rêve que rêver sa vie”,  is a French proverb that translates to “It’s better to live your dream than to dream your life.” So if you have a choice this week and in the future, no matter how small, to choose what might seem practical or to manifest something that only existed in the realms of your mind, choose the latter. You will be so happy you did.