Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The poetry of two out of three

I stumbled upon this great little animated poem and had an a-ha moment. It was one of those times when I saw something in the world that was perfectly in sync with the thoughts bouncing around my head.

In Sex and the City, they said you could have only two of the following three: an amazing apartment, an amazing job and/or an amazing boyfriend. (Or am I making that up? Was it just me and my friends who thought that? In any case, I think it’s a common New York truism.)

Similarly, sadly, (tragically?) Kenneth Koth proclaims that you cannot have love, work and friends—only two of the three are simultaneously possible.

As my weeks here in Paris ebb and flow with excitement and exhaustion, I can’t agree more. It’s something I’m trying to crack: do I give up my freelance writing for the rest of my stay here in order to free up some time and lessen my stress so I could enjoy “French life” a bit more? The thing is, it’s always been how I measure my success, so the thought of doing that terrifies and depresses me.

And yet, I can’t keep grinding away at work 9 or 10 hours a day and also pursue the freelance. If I stubbornly decided to keep doing both, I’d have to give up the friends. Which, with friends like Mel, Jo, Sarah and Michael, is just not happening.

And love? When that flutters outside your window, you certainly don’t bat it away. It’s too rare and precious and one day, I may be so lucky.

Meatloaf profoundly put it this way: Two out of three ain’t bad. This poem is, well, more poetic. Now the question is, what I am going to do about it?

7 comments:

  1. Give up the freelance writing for the remainder of your stay and experience the things that flutter outside your window. You can always write about it later.

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  2. Kenneth Koth:

    Roses are red
    Violets are blue
    This is a crock of shit
    And you know it too!

    OR

    Roses are blue
    Violets are red
    When you were young
    Were you dropped on your head?

    ;-)

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  3. Do it the French way: give up the exercise classes and take a lover. That will give you all the exercise you need. Two birds, one stone.

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  4. What do you mean by: "for the rest of my stay here"?!!

    You're not going anywhere, kiddo. I'm not kidding. I have rope. And I will not hesitate to use it if necessary.

    x M

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  5. I think about this all the time, too! How much longer do you have in Paris? Seems like you have been super busy - enjoy the city more if that's what you feel you need right now and *especially* if you're only here for a limited amount of time. You've proven your freelancing mettle ten times over already! (And if you feel guilty about it, send some of the freelance work my way - I'll gladly take some of it off your hands :)

    Best of luck. Love your blog.

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  6. Merci, à tous! Some good advice and words of support here. Merci, merci. Love, lovers & time... I'll do what I can - I promise to work on it. But I'm also ready for the great big cosmic universe to lend me a hand. :)

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