A walk in the forest became a beer in an English pub with Peter. After stumbling upon Andy watching Rugby, we invited ourselves to dinner at Stephanie's. How we ended up dancing to Diana Ross and the Supremes with our rice paper lamp shade is anyone's guess. I have found that the desultory development of a day can be more intriguing than the previously plodded path in a park. When you have no expectations, each moment of life can be exactly what you want.
Janine often asks me if this is what I expected life to be like in Paris. When I tell her I didn't have any expectations, she asks 'So then you aren't disappointed?'. Though we have this conversation at least once a week, the simple gravity of it never ceases to astound me. If we can appreciate life as it is in the present, without projecting anticipations into the future, then there will be no dissatisfaction.
I no longer feel restricted by my past, or pressured by my future. Instead I've discovered that I feel each moment as I live it, an authenticity that was illuminated for me by a light-lacking lampshade.
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