March is my birthday month. And every March, like clockwork, I begin to change in some way or other. Things feel different. Why? I don’t know. And this March is not different. Things are changing. So, I am thinking out loud. Bear with me. First, the questions: Am I imagining it? Why? Because, I don’t feel like talking right now; in fact, nobody seems to want to talk right now. Messages are brief and replies late or no reply. Group chats are no longer pinging all night long. Is it me?
It’s everyone. We are spent. We have nothing left to say. We are tired of saying, ‘I can’t wait for this to end’. “I want the cafes to open.” So I mostly say nothing. “Bonjour’” and take a walk if I feel like it. I get through each day. But, help is on the way.
I read, “This is a state of being like no other we have ever known because we are all going through it together but so very far apart. ” So, hang in there, my friend. Help is coming. So, when the mood strikes, send out all those messages and don’t feel you have to apologise for being quiet. No one is judging.
Some thoughts for today (a too-windy March day in Paris)
Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988), “The young Mary Magdalene” (1967), charcoal. Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988) was an Italian portraitist and a fresco painter influenced by the Italian Renaissance. He was nicknamed by the press of his time as “the painter of queens”. His portrait of Queen II from 1956 is very famous
Beautiful and young? Right? Wrong.
“Always keep in mind that the skin wrinkles, hair turns white, days turn into years. But what is important does not change; your strength and conviction have no age. Your spirit is the glue of any spider web. Behind each finish line there is a starting line. Behind every success there is another disappointment. As long as you are alive, feel alive. If you miss what you did, go back to doing it. Don’t live on yellowed photos … Insist, even if everyone expects him to quit. Do not let the iron in you rust. Make sure that instead of compassion, they bring you respect.
When, due to the years, you will not be able to run, walk fast. When you can not walk fast, walk. When you can’t walk, use the cane. But never hold back! ” -Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Dedicated to women”
On my bucket list, today, Lake Como in Italy. SAVE MY PLACE!
Springtime at the Eiffel Tower in Paris! With flowers.
I don’t have any words of wisdom today because I don’t like a lot of wind. But, so be it. March has winds. And, I love March. So…..
I doubt I can change the world, but I will try- little by little. So, can you. “Rough Seas make good sailors.” “Go to it!” I don’ t “believe, I KNOW.
Forgive all of the memes but I like them. They remind me when I have lost my way. And, I am posting a picture of me from a few years ago. I am not comfortable posting a current one. Too vain. I am working on all of it – skin, body, mind, spirit, hair, eyes and it is working. Good for me!! I still don’t have the vaccine (high demand in Paris), so I am still social distancing. But help is on the way. Thanks for all of it. It is a good life.
Best, Jay
JAYSPEAK 