Good morning everyone, and welcome back to the breakroom! I do apologize about not getting a post out last week, we spent the last two weeks in France and optimistic me thought I’d find the time to put together a post last week. I ended up finding myself very busy and wasn’t able to get anything together, but did want to put together a special post for my return. Rather than a Breakdown of an office episode, I instead wanted to talk about some of things I’ve brought back with me from my trip.
This is not specifically about physical objects, but rather focusing on the many ideas I had while there on how I want to do things differently when I return. I know we all have those moments when we are on an amazing trip and think about what we want to do when we return. This could be inspiration to take up a hobby, doing afternoon tea every day, maybe an idea on a new tattoo. Too often we lose momentum and let those ideas be cast away as youthful optimisms. Well, I would like to not let that be the case and to help with that I want to talk about some of the specific inspirations I want to cement in my life.
Food Inspirations
One of my favorite things about going to France is experiencing the food; they truly do have some of the best foods in the world. As someone who loves to cook, I really wanted to bring some culinary inspiration back with me so I could recreate some of it. One of my favorites was going into a sweets shop and getting to try some dangerously boozy rum babas in adorable jars. Rather than trying to figure out how to bring them over to the states, I really want to try to recreate them as a fun Christmas gift. My other big one, which will be trickier, is mastering the art of the French baguette. In theory it is simple but definitely requires proper French flour as the gluten content is much different than here and the states and those with gluten intolerance can actually eat it. Unfortunately, with the current tariffs in place this will likely be tricky. But certainly the culinary highlight was being able to take part in a 5-6 course meal at a 5 star restaurant in southern France. From the drinks to the meal to the dessert, it was potentially one of the greatest meals of my life.
Simple Moments
Rather than do major touristy things in Paris, we mainly just walked around and visited the zoos and aquarium again. Of course, the first thing we did was grab some coffee and a fresh croissant. I think we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do big activities when some of the most memorable can be sipping on coffee, enjoying a pastry, and taking in the atmosphere. That being said, I know my husband would say I need to learn to be more “lax” and “go with the flow.” I did struggle in France because I prefer to always have a plan or itinerary and I can sort of fall apart trying to plan on the fly with no clear direction.
Artistic Inspiration
I always find myself inspired when I see unique pieces of art (this photo is actually from a previous trip but I found myself looking at my old photos). I feel the emotions and thoughts that went into the art and I feel compelled to try to do the same. While I am not skilled in painting or photography, I do considered myself versed in writing. And I will admit that I have been wanting to actually write more than my blog articles. I have thought about a collection of short stories, trying my hand at playwriting, and I’ve even had a couple book ideas. Besides losing the motivation you get while abroad, the moment you try to make something real you have to admit you care about the project. And that is when you face the fact that you can fail and you have to ask yourself if you are okay with that. Of course, there has certainly been a part of me that wishes I had that special touch and could learn to paint, do photography, draw (one of my book ideas could be a cool graphic novel). But the realist in me knows that not everyone can be good at everything so we learn where our unique skills lie.
Professional Aspirations
More than anything, I did get inspired about being more serious about that next step in my career. I have been too passive the last four years and evidently I need to be much more aggressive and willing to step out of my comfort zone to get the job and salary that I have been working towards and deserve. I need be more thoughtful with where I am applying for, and if I can actually line up an interview I ought to have the confidence to go in and stop playing by the rules. It is easy to try to answer their questions in the way you believe they want to be heard but perhaps we need to have a bit more of our personality come out. It is easy to find a “yes man” but it is individuals who are hard to come by these days. It is interesting the sorts of things that inspire you, but it was seeing so many polished professionals in Paris that made me realize that I do miss that. As much as I love being at home with my puppies, part of me does miss getting to get dressed up and take some pride and confidence in going to work.
I know it is very easy to say you will do something, but it completely different to actually put that into practice. One of my common themes here is to encourage and hype my reader(s) because I firmly believe we need this encouragement. Of course, people like me are always so encouraging because we are also partially trying to motivate ourselves. As Jan Levinson once told Pam, there are always a thousand reasons not to do something. And as Jim later told Pam in that same episode, you have to take a chance on something sometime.
So this is me saying I’m choosing to not let the thousand things keep me from trying to accomplish something meaningful and I am going to design the next steps in my goals. I’m currently in the process of getting a large amount of job applications out to various locations, this being my big project over the weekend. My next goal is continue with this blog and podcast to make that into something meaningful. And I am going to evaluate what the next steps in my writing will be whether I take up writing articles/essays, stories, plays, or experimenting with it all.
For further inspiration, what sort of goals have you received from trips? I think we should make it more commonplace that we come back from trips not just relaxed, but changed for the better. To paraphrase Gandalf the Grey, if you get the opportunity to travel abroad you should expect to not return the same as you were. This should be encouraged because if you return unchanged, did you really learn anything about yourself or the world?
I wish you all an amazing weekend, and I hope you will share some of your own stories from traveling. Until next week, I’ll see you around the Breakroom.
