// Monday Vibes?
A couple weekends back Dan and I were visiting his home [Jersey Shore] and went for a little drive to see Snooki, Jwoww and the gang. In doing so we drove by a little boutique. I forget the name. Anyways, I got this shirt for like $40 [was on sale] and I am in love with it. "Will work for coffee" it says, with a coffee mug stain printed over the 'C'. Simple and perfect.
Since then this shirt has got me thinking: Living in New York has taught me many different things - more so in the past couple months. Being aware of what life was trying to teach me was step one. It's so easy to move through the days knowing you're learning, but taking the time to actually stop and reflect [I KNOW that sounds super corny] will give you a much different result. Life moves extremely quickly, so quickly it's easy to lose sight of how you got to where you are. This is where my second lesson comes in - I had this false perception of "where ever you find yourself, there you are" [a quote I found on Pinterest and loved]. This isn't true. Not even in the least. Taking a step back, I've learned, to re-center yourself, re-evaluate, and re-calculate is so important. Does 'where you are' jive with where you see yourself in 10 years. This isn't about career, but the person you want to see yourself becoming... ok there is a little bit of career in there.
Saturday's New York Times had an article written in their magazine, called "A Moment In Time" written by Marian Mecvoy. The article was about Mary Russell, a fashion reporter and photographer based in Paris during the 1960' and 70's. Her subjects were often close friends - you know, Karl, Diane Vreeland, Rolling Stones etc, which were captured in "...un-self conscious intimacy rare among photos of the famous, and rich and frequently documented". Mary lived, what seemed to be, a very nonchalant lifestyle while creating incredible substantial work. She wanted to take photos, and loved fashion. She captured a time "when private moments were in fact private and snapshots truly intimate". How inspiring right? Take me back to this time life seemed glamorous. She was good at what she did, and was rewarded, but danced through life gracefully. "But her real love affair was with her life in Paris. 'The world in which I navigated was private and closed to outsiders,' Russell says. 'There was no media frenzy, no social media. Politically correct behavior was yet to be invented. We drank champagne, and we were very naughty... We owned Paris. We luxuriated and played in it. I was in love with love, life, my jobs and the freedom of those times. Most of all, I loved taking pictures. My camera went everywhere with me - I took photos of almost everyone I met. I don't think anyone ever objected."
I've come to the conclusion that I want my life to be as a simple as this T-Shirt and Mary Russell's career. Coffee always makes me happy no matter what mood I'm in, and it never costs me more than $4, and that's a fancy cup. Private with no social media I'm afraid is impossible in my life time, I'm talking about the fact that her camera went everywhere with her - she took photos because she wanted to. Her life, and career danced in perfect harmony because she clearly was not a try hard, but rather a bad ass chick who is still taking photos in her 70's. Anyways, Monday thoughts. x -C