The discomfort in all things
A rumination
“If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,
we'd grab ours back.”
― Regina Brett
A few years ago, my friend Anne-Laure was visiting her grandfather in the small commune of Châtel-Montagne, just as she had a few times each year all her life. On this particular visit, she spotted a petit hotel that looked like it would belong on a Wes Anderson set. She couldn’t believe she’d never noticed it before. Looking closer, she saw a ‘For Sale’ sign and in that moment knew she would somehow make it her home.
Working as a yoga teacher and barista in Paris, she didn’t have much in the way of savings. So she used her creativity. She pitched a marketing role to the local mayor to help revive the village, landed a job, made a business plan to turn Hôtel des Touristes into a residency, and was able to secure a mortgage and start her dream life in her dream home.
When I visited Anne-Laure last autumn, the dreaminess had continued. She now had two pets, a partner, a job teaching yoga in …