Happy Place in Milan

One of the most beautiful things about living in Paris is the facility of getting out of Paris. 

You can just book an internal flight or a train and go wherever you want in Europe. Last week I decided to visit Milan and Venice during spring break, a mixture of history and modernity. In this post, I want to talk about a special location that I absolutely loved, nothing related to fashion, style or food. 

This place is completely natural and incredibly peaceful. It is the Parco Sampione, located in the heart of Milan. For many it might be a simple park or just a beautiful garden where people walk their dogs and meet for coffee. I found it breathtaking. I am not very good at describing so I prefer posting pictures and let you imagine the place, but in a few words, I especially loved the possible interaction between the people and the nature. The lake is completely clean and animated by several sorts of creatures like ducks, birds, water turtles, fishes… The threes are a hundred years old making us feel privileged. I felt happy and lucky. 

What About our Bodies?

I’m sitting here in the Jardin du Luxembourg, in the heart of Paris, thinking of anything but homework. The sun is shining, the Parisians are happy and as for me, I am listening to amazing music from the 80’s. I’ve been living in this city for a month now and I am enjoying each moment as much as I can.

I wanted to write a post about Paris, but each time I sat down and started to write, I would get so lost in my thoughts because I have so much things to say. Too much thoughts about Paris, about its patisserie, about its people, about is museums, its architecture, its weather… And as a result, the post would be bombarded with information and emotions. So instead of writing a touristic guide full of impressions, I decided to write about everyday subjects as I usually do and include a Parisian touch.

Today I want to write about human bodies. Last week I saw a reportage on TV that left me speechless. Victoire Maçon Dauxerre, an ex top-model, speaks about her life when she was still rocking runways and photoshoots. She actually wrote a book about her whole experience in this industry called “Jamais assez maigre” (which I will buy later in the day).

People admire top models. They follow their lifestyles, they watch them on runways, they add them on social media. They put their pictures as wallpapers on their phones and laptops for aspiration, they hang pictures of their bodies on treadmills for “motivation” and they even follow their diets.

People get jealous of top models, they cry, starve, isolate themselves because of them.

People get anorexia and dangerous sicknesses because of them.

People commit suicide because of them. People die because of them.

And you want to know the worst part? Behind all their pictures, their smiles and their success, those top models are the most miserable people on the planet.

This affirmation doesn’t come from me, it comes from an ex top-model herself and you can read her testimony in her book if you don’t believe me.

Why are you so obsessed with unhealthy bodies? Why do you want to starve and hurt yourself? Eating three apples a day or drinking only juice as “detox” for a week are the worst things you can do to yourself. Life is short and food is one of the greatest pleasures in it. Don’t take that aways from you. Don’t deny it, food makes us happy.

If you are still not convinced, just read the testimony of an ex top-model herself. I am going to read her book right now and I will come back to you with more credible arguments because I believe that you deserve to be happy, healthy and comfortable in your own body.

Stop looking up to people who are not even real. Stop looking up to people who are miserable and commit suicide/want to commit suicide. You think they are perfectly happy and comfortable by looking at their pictures but what do you really know about them? Do you think they are really happy eating three apples and exercising four hours a day?

Victoire Maçon Dauxerre while she was still a top model

New Year, New Goals

Writing resolutions in the beginning of a new year may sound a little childish, but I find it enthusiastic and challenging. I like to focus on what bothered me the most last year and try to solve it with a new beginning, a new page. I think we should all take advantage of this opportunity and kick off a new year with positive intentions. I am not going to reveal my resolutions word to word, but I can tell you that my main focus this year is being true to myself. 

By this expression, I mean acting for myself and not to please others. It is very hard to escape from the social prison in which we are all trapped, we constantly want to prove to others that we are cool, intelligent, famous… and most importantly happy. Most of us force themselves to go to places they hate, hang out with people they don’t like and adopt a certain personality because society said so. Teenagers post pictures of themselves partying and pretending to be happy while in the inside they are dying to slap the people around them and spend time with people they actually like in a place they actually enjoy. Don’t deny it. We are all social prisoners. Our actions depend on people’s perceptions. I know I can’t really escape from all this, but I want to at least try as much as I can. I want to stay true to myself and do what I like and not what others want me to do. I revealed this detail from my resolutions to inspire and maybe help you write your own resolutions and work on yourselves.

Try to change what was bothering you in 2015 in order to be happier in 2016.