{"id":304,"date":"2018-02-04T20:59:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-04T20:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2018-02-04T20:59:04","modified_gmt":"2018-02-04T20:59:04","slug":"perfectly-imperfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/04\/perfectly-imperfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfectly Imperfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

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To say that I have taken a break from this blog would be an understatement – but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting idly by. \u00a0Anyone that knows me understands that my motto is “A full life is a well-lived life.” \u00a0That’s not to say that taking a break isn’t a good thing – lord knows it is a necessity!<\/p>\n

In the last year I’ve traveled to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Montreal, Maine, Crested Butte, Rhinebeck, Phoenix, and D.C. \u00a0Some of those trips were to visit friends, others were to attend an event, and then there were the rest and relaxation voyages. \u00a0It was a year of reconnecting with college friends and diving deep into meditation with Tara Brach; it was a year of exploring new places and returning to a few old ones; and it was a year of connecting with others on a massive scale at the Women’s March in D.C. \u00a0Given this amount of travel, there’s plenty to write about here. \u00a0(Here are just a few photos from these travels.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

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One activity that has taken up a great deal of my limited spare time is studying French. \u00a0In college, I studied it all four years and grew to love everything about France. But studying a language in college with nothing more does not make one fluent (or even conversant). \u00a0Two things inspired me to pick up studying French again in August 2016. \u00a0 (1) When the bombs went off in Nice it tore out a piece of my heart. \u00a0Having visited this beautiful city the previous year, I felt scared, grateful, and angry. \u00a0But it also made me think about the fragility and shortness of our lives – even if we are afforded a long one, it passes quickly by. \u00a0(2) A friend of mine studies Italian through a private tutor and has a seriously busy schedule. \u00a0But she loves Italian and makes time for it in her life. \u00a0Seeing her leave a meeting to take a call from her tutor made me realize that, with today’s technology, you didn’t need to travel across town or fumble around with software to learn a language.<\/p>\n

When I considered these two things together, I concluded that I would not continue putting off studying French. \u00a0Life is short – take action! Also, if you have a passion in your life, then follow it – if you are really passionate about it you’ll make time for it.<\/p>\n

Over the last 18 months my skills have increased (although I sometimes feel like I’m regressing) through private lessons over Skype. \u00a0At this point, I feel like an immersion program would benefit my speaking ability (and then there’s the whole I’m going to France part). \u00a0Finding a good program was tricky, but I finally landed on one in Aix-en-Provence where I’ll live with my teacher who will private hours of private lessons, share two meals a day, and take excursions both local and outside of Aix to practice French “outside of the classroom.” \u00a0At the end of the immersion program, I’ll take a train to Paris where I’ll meet up with some friends and my husband. \u00a0Paris in May should be spectacular. \u00a0Having visited most of the monuments in past trips, my goal is to dig into the neighborhoods and explore.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While I wish I could say that I could commit to more frequent blog posts (of course, more than once a year isn’t saying much), life gets by us so quickly leaving little time for these things. \u00a0But, we’ll spend time on the things that matter the most – and if we aren’t, it’s time to take a step back and figure out why. \u00a0Lord knows it’s easy to get sucked into instagram, binge-watching tv shows, running errands, or just simply shopping (online or in the store). \u00a0Having mindfulness about it is a beginning and not to be underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u00c0 bient\u00f4t! (hopefully not too long from now)<\/p>\n

Brandy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To say that I have taken a break from this blog would be an understatement – but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting idly by. \u00a0Anyone that knows me understands that my motto is “A full life is a well-lived life.” \u00a0That’s not to say that taking a break isn’t a good thing – lord […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hz1R-4U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":217,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/25\/take-time-to-breathe\/","url_meta":{"origin":304,"position":0},"title":"Take Time to Breathe","date":"September 25, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This morning I am feeling a lot of gratitude for the space I have at home. 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Depending on where you want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Colorado"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/IMG_8164-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/18\/the-next-big-trip-ireland\/","url_meta":{"origin":304,"position":3},"title":"The Next Big Trip: Ireland!","date":"November 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Ireland is a place I've always wanted to visit. \u00a0Partly because I have always been told that I have an Irish heritage - along with half of America! \u00a0(More about that later . . . ) For me, one of the best parts of a trip is the planning stage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/03\/be-kind\/","url_meta":{"origin":304,"position":4},"title":"Change Your Thoughts By Taking Action","date":"March 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Be Kind When I was in first grade I entered into a contest to see how many books I could read over the summer. Ever the competitor, I read like a champ that summer. One of the books that I absolutely loved was Aesop\u2019s Fables, a book of tales for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "R\u00c9FL\u00c9CHIR"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_5272-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":423,"url":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/12\/reading-corner\/","url_meta":{"origin":304,"position":5},"title":"Reading Corner","date":"December 12, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Have you ever thought about why we read books?\u00a0\u00a0Sounds odd, I know, but sometimes I think about how much time it takes to read a book and have this fleeting thought \u2013 is it worth it? 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