Boundless living outside the box

To live outside of the box lends itself to a certain sense of adventure and newness. This past month has been a new mode of living outside of the box, or rather expanding the scope and size of the proverbial ‘box’ I live within. While I have always been friendly, honest and surrounded by deep friendships and acquaintances, I have always retained a sense of coyness and reservation in new situations and among people I had just met. It’s one thing to extend yourself to someone known with the possibility of plans never materializing, as in the ever popular expressions, “let’s get together sometime”, or “call me, we’ll do lunch”; but with people just met there is a greater sense of wanting those plans to actually come to fruition.

So over the month of November, the pledge I had long planted in my hopes finally began to sprout. Truly wishing and wanting to ‘put myself out there’ and just embrace new experiences and opportunities sounded much better in theory than in practice; but as I am continually learning, most things need time, patience and guidance to bear fruit, blanketed of course, in an assured  belief in its possibility.

Armed with the peace that despite the lack of true connected friendships en France, I could either dwell on what is missing or I could trust my whispering intuition chime “in time…”, while learning that it is much easier to allow life to unfold at its own pace and in its own rhythm as, “the surest way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans…”

While the concept of time is ever eluding and confounding, it is the one thing that holds limitless possibility. Instead we tend to view it with a sense of urgency and control and a fabricated belief that with perseverance and effort we can construct what we want, when we want it. Perhaps it is in ‘knowing’ that we see a glimpse of the uncertain future, but perhaps it is in ‘unknowing’ that we truly enjoy and appreciate the mysteries of what’s to come…

So this past month has unfolded with a renewed sense of confidence and a carefree attitude, with a shift toward a greater embracement of English communication bridged with French laissez-faire social precedence. A social butterfly of sorts is the simplest way to describe the latest experiences, complete with book clubs, wine tastings, re-exploring the city among fallen leaves and misty skies, and sharing meals and holidays amongst new friends…  A month that in many ways retains the connectedness of several years but that also reinvigorates and reminds of the importance of enjoying each moment with ardent hope that the next will undoubtedly unfold with as much possibility!