"In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society."
-Henry David Thoreau
As I walked through the streets of Paris last January, my long, red coat and big scarf absorbing the brisk air, I realized that I could finally think. I was in a familiar place, walking by my favorite restaurants but I was far away from everything I knew. I could never figure out why I loved it there so much until I came home and on the route from the airport to my house I could point out the old billboards on the freeway. Don't get me wrong, I'm a home-body (def. someone who loves their own bed). But at home I always have things I need to do or things I can worry about. When you have all the time in the world and you are across a 41 million sq miles ocean, you throw out all the trivial thoughts and you are able contemplate.
I walked down Avenue de la Motte-Pique, stumbled into a boulangerie, casually asked for a mille feuille and found a cafe next door. I sat down at a table on the street and ordered a hot chocolate. I watched a Parisian man with flood pants and purple socks walk home from work. I watched a couple out on a walk stop on the street to look at each other in the eyes and smile. I realized that I was watching everyone live. Before I was always consumed by what I was doing and where I needed to be. We would all be better off if we stopped for a second and looked at the world moving and people living. Maybe we would all be more aware of others struggling around us instead of waxing our speedboats or detailing our Ferraris.
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