6 years ago by
Happy, HAPPY, happy new year!!!
I don’t know if you’re about to write down your resolutions, but I know I am not.
A whole bunch of my family is here, in my home, and I have no time for all that.
Well. Truth is, I didn’t really wait to set intentions – 2017 has been a full year of introspection and resolutions.
Exactly one year ago, Chris, Lulu and I where jumping on a plane to settle in Los Angeles and what I didn’t know at the time was that 2017 would be my toughest year ever – and at the same time, probably the most beautiful of my life.
You’ve followed a few of my adventures, even if they took so much of me that I had a hard time sharing and writing some of them. A home, no baby, a very important professional change with the launch of Atelier Doré… And a new way to work long distance.
It was steep, but 2017 also was the year where I finally found who I am.
Or at least I found a thread that could lead me to it.
Most of my life, even when it felt scary, I’ve followed my instincts and learned to trust life. It’s not always easy but it’s like an exercise – the more you do it, the more you get used to it.
But nothing could have prepared me to the giant emotional and spiritual wake up call Los Angeles pushed me into. It’s as if LA woke up my soul.
As soon as I moved here, I could feel the way this city was supporting me, embracing me with a soft and maternal energy – the opposite of New York. I also felt very quickly that it was pushing me to put all the ideas I had about myself in check and to surrender to a completely new point of view. Easier said than done.
The other day I was having a drink with a friend when he told me:
“Don’t you find this city a little bit depressing?”
I knew exactly what he was talking about – but I didn’t say anything.
If you’re not ready to welcome that strange and almost mystical energy, LA can feel empty and superficial. For me, it is nothing like that.
Here, thanks to the tough times I went through and that I am so grateful for, I am learning to stop controlling everything in my life.
I am learning to listen to the quiet voice inside of me, not the crazy angry one that was telling me that I was never enough.
I am learning to listen to what others are saying.
I am learning that I can respect my body.
I am learning that my ideas and my desires can’t please everyone. And that it actually is a very good sign.
I am learning to protect myself.
I am I learning, slowly, to own who I really am.
Of course all of this is just at its beginning.
In 2017 I also learned that being yourself is the (joyful) work of a lifetime and that the most important thing is to fall in love with our life as it is right now.
And to cherish it like a new love, a man or a woman we adore and we want to take care of in every little detail. One whose qualities we love and whose flaws make us laugh – and with whom we savor every moment, because they are the expression of our joy and our commitment.
Never to separate moments of happiness from the rest but find joy in everything.
Once you start living your life like that, it’s like falling in love everyday. Everything shines, people smile, colors get brighter and hurdles become fascinating lessons. Each moment is like a present and you can never get enough.
———
Falling in love with our lives is what I wish for us in 2018.
Giant warm hugs to you, from the bottom of my heart.
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Garance
Premier Janvier
Dearest Garance,
Wishing you all the best for 2018
Love, Polly xx
Drôle que tu inities ce souhait ! Il y a longtemps un homme, une sorte de vieux philosophe, m’a dit que la vie était amoureuse de moi ! Je ne comprenais pas, puis lentement j’ai compris comment honorer ce cadeau pour que cet amour se développe, malgré les chutes et les erreurs. L’aventure ne s’arrête jamais. Quel “thrill”de lâcher prise pour entrer dans cet espace si précieux, si secret ! Je te souhaite de danser avec lui à tous les instants ! La voie sacrée est celle du coeur pour les autres, avec les autres.
Being clear and honest and yourself and your life just like you have expressed in these words is what is really beautiful.Keep travelling down this path and keep sharing and inspiring us all to do the same.xx
Lovely message to start off the new year, thank you! And I’m sure you meant “opposite of New York”…for you. Some of us found ourselves in the city, just as you are now in LA. Best in your continued journey.
Merci Garance de nous accompagner au quotidien et de toujours trouver les mots justes!
Thank you so much for all the heart you’ve put into words!
A very happy new year! :)
Dear Garance, we all are learning. Thanks to your sites I started to understand my French colleagues, as well as the fact we are time to time completely different in thinking. I was many times puzzled, now I simply know: two nationalities, despite from one Europe :-) How world can be colorful! It`s very nice and funny discovery, though time to time a bit confusing :-)
Happy New Year and all the best!
Xoxo
Nat
Dear Garance
Thank you for your wise and honest words spoken elegantly. I am 55 and still learning and curious about life. Wonderful reminders for the new year.
Best wishes
APPLAUSI!!!STANDING OVATIONS!!!!!GREETINGS TO YOU GREAT GARANCE!!!!FROM BARI, ITALY
Garance…vous êtes une adorable fille,tous mes voeux les plus doux
What a beautiful blessing for the year! And right back at you.
Apparently, a 2 year in numerology brings a slower and softer time.
Biz,
Cc
I’ve been thinking too about starting from within to look at what the new year can bring. For it is from that that the rest springs. I sometimes like to see my idiosyncracies (ok, some of those are faults) like the childlike part of me that is just doing her delightful best. I’m so happy that you’ve found more of yourself in the struggle. :)
Happy New Year Garance! I have stopped making resolutions for a while now. I figured I would make changes on my terms. So glad you are enjoying life after big changes. Life is constantly moving and wonderful. The wonderful is all relative to how we perceive and act on life’s’ circumstances. Like Bevely, I’m 51 and constantly learning and curious as well.
Garance,
You’re not alone. Last year was also my toughest and most beautiful year. I, too, learned to listen to myself, because we know deep within us what’s right for us. I also learned not to force things and trust that things will unfold in the right time. It’s a matter of preparing for those times.
If you ever need a refresh you should checkout my hometown Vancouver, BC. A hike in the mountains always does wonders.
Best,
Jo
Chère Garance, vous trouvez toujours les mots justes, ironiques ou émouvants, depuis toutes ces années que je vous suis. Merci.
Et heureuse 2018 à vous aussi !
Tu le dis vraiment très bien! Que cette année soit douce pour toi. Pace et salute!
Garance,
Je vous souhaite d’embrasser 2018 avec encore davantage de votre Vérité Intérieure pour éclairer notre Monde. Merci de vos belles Lumières
With Love.
Florence – Créatrice Ondes & Sens.
Chère Garance,
“Tomber folle amoureuse de nos vies, c’est ce que je nous souhaite pour 2018.”
Voilà une belle idée. Je l’adopte tout de suite. Je viens de prendre ma retraite et j’aurais du temps pour tomber amoureuse à nouveau.
Merci.
Tenham um Excelente 2018 ,a todos os níveis , Garance , Nat, Erik, Em, Carie, Brie,Ali!
E ,Obrigado pelo que me tem proporcionado!
Um Grande Abraço de Lisboa !!! *_*
Décidément tu as les mots Garance. C’est tellement joli ce souhait que tu nous offres et nous envoies.
Cela parait tellement évident et cela ne l’est tellement pas quand on regarde nos vies.
Alors je prends tes voeux et vais m’occuper d’en prendre soin et de les faire grandir tout au long de cette année.
Du coup je ne sais plus quoi te souhaiter… enfin si évidemment, une très belle, très heureuse et pleine de soleil année 2018. Pleine d’amour sous toutes ses formes.
Je t’embrasse très fort.
Merci Garance pour tes vœux tellement précieux et “évidents” que je les partage sur mon FB pour aussi les relire à l’envi !
Je te souhaite également une très belle année 2018 !
Chere Garance, en lisant votre joli article, une chanson me vient a l’esprit : “all you need is love” des Beatles, parce que c’est le secret d’une belle vie, malgre les embuches, love sous toutes ses formes, c’est ce que je vous souhaite pour 2018 !
Bonne année Garance à vous et toute votre équipe!
Je vous suis depuis vos débuts et suis une immense fan, en espérant devenant un jour aussi inspirante que vous:) Bon début d’année toujours avec beaucoup de plaisir et de joies!
Bien à vous
Johanna Alombredesmots, blogueuse culture/littérature
http://www.alombredesmots.over-blog.com/
Très belle année 2018, du bonheur, de l’amour et le reste suivra ? merci pour votre énergie elle est particulièrement stimulante ????
Merci pour ce souhait qui est le plus beau.
Oh Garance. What a perfect resolution.
My resolution is to make one resolution everyday that involves someone else… write to someone, donate, make a small gesture or gift or donation.
If its ok… i would like to adopt yours too… and ‘gift’ it to a special friend who needs it more than i do.
Happy New Year to all at the Atelier.
Thanks for a great post .
I too have not listed resolutions, I am a Work in
Progress ! Each time I think of resolutions I think of one progressive change I am in the midst of making . As a gay man I decided to proclaim myself a feminist and all that changes that entails . I challenge others to take this pledge . My first post of the year is about this check it out ! Thanks for allowing me to share .
Jandrew
Dress The Part
http://www.jandrewspeaks.com
Happy New Year, Garance! Such a beautiful revision of the year gone. For me, each year brings highs and lows so finding the joy in each day is constant reminder to be present. Easer said than done, but yes! x
I am carrying the same feelings since two years ago, brutal and beautiful years at the same time, learning and daring to be curious about what I am feeling. I was also exhausted to make new year resolutions, I decided to live day by day, breathing and working with what I have.
You have always felt like that friend that comforts you, a mirror that you can look into and feel that in the end everything is going to be ok. Keep shining and inspiring dear Garance! wishing you much wholeness to you this new year. With love,
Mercedes
@maisoncorazon
Tout le meilleur pour toi aussi Garance ! Merci pour tes mots et ton partage.
Garance,
merci pour ces voeux positifs et réjouissants. Ils sont pour moi à l’image de ce que votre blog m’apporte de si inspirant et encourageant parfois.
Je vous souhaite en retour une très belle année 2018. Qu’elle vous apporte ce dont vous avez besoin, dans la joie, la paix et l’amour, malgré les épreuves ou même souvent grâce à elles..
Bien à vous.
Alex
Chère Garance,
Je te lis depuis maintenant 9 ans et quel bonheur de trouver tes posts. La façon dont le blog a évolué. Je te souhaite une très belle année 2018. Julia
Thank You! <3 I'm in the similar process right now.
Hi Garance,
Great post and well said! Your writing and thoughts are so inspiring and so in touch with how I feel. It is nice to see you putting the positive energy out into the universe since it helps bring lightness to everyone’s days. Keep up your amazing work and I hope to see you again sometime in 2018!
Big hugs!
Tina
Every time I read your letter I understand why I am following with such a pleasure your blog! I am a mature woman of 56 and proud to have reached, just in 2017, after a long, sometimes painful, always profound, work on myself, that special feeling of gratitude that make me fall in love each day, with my life. Thank you Garance for sharing with us your experience and your true feelings. I wish you the 2018 you desire.
I wish you a very Happy New Year!
And thank you for sharing your life’s experience! We all go through tough times and that is normal, it shapes who we are in the end. Perspective of each situation is important and how we face it.
All the best.
Thank you for the inspirational message, Garance. It arrived at the right time for where I am. It helped fuel my excitement for the moments that are in store for 2018!
Thank you for the inspirational message, Garance. It arrived at just the right time, fueling my desire to welcome the moments 2018 will bring.
Hi Garance,
your words are very touching.
I have been in a strange place for almost 9 years now. Moving out and back again. Hardly a choice if the man of my heart lives here. Soo soo hard for me though. I have never been able to fall in love with this place (more the opposite) let alone fall in love with my life here. I wish – all the time – quietly and not so quietly that we finally move away. My soul lives elsewhere, in Australia, which is sooo far away. I lived there for many years before I met him. It’s not far away for me but for him. So with every year that passes my dream ball gets smaller and smaller.
Your words are touching because I wish so much I could fall in love with my life here.. it would make our life here much happier and easier.
Thanks for sharing.
Garance,
You are a ray of sunshine beaming through the heavy clouds of 2017. Your words resonate with the soul.
Best wishes to you, Chris, and Lulu!
Tammy
Happy new year Garance! Wishing you and your team all the very best.
the best expression of what life can be and a journey I am currently on. thank you x
“Falling in love with our lives is what I wish for us in 2018.” LOVED IT, SO PERFECTLY WELL SAID, THANKS!
Lovely message, very touching. Wishing you all the best for 2018, from the very south of the globe.
What a beautiful post and wish for 2018, Garance. Thank you for being you and doing so delightfully. Big hugs !
Merci Garance, toi aussi Bonne année ! Bisous
Belle année à toi Garance et merci pour ce beau message, cela fait tellement plaisir pour toi !
Profound Garance…
Sending oceanic Love to you & all of us ?
What a wonderful wish! Thank you!
“2017 est l’année où j’ai enfin trouvé qui j’étais.
Ou du moins, j’en ai trouvé le fil.” voilà une formule qui me parle tellement! Parfois j’ai l’impression de tirer assurément le bon fil, puis il semble m’échapper à nouveau et je me rends compte alors que me laisse à nouveau embarquer, par la vie, par les autres, leurs attentes, par une perspective de réussite… alors et parce qu’il est encore temps (janvier n’est pas fini!) je me souhaite à moi, et je vous souhaite à vous, de toujours tirer le bon fil! et je vous remercie sincèrement.