On checking in with yourself.

Hello to you out there, wherever you are in this world!

Thanks for coming back to my corner of the internet. I am so grateful that you are here :)

It has been a little over a month since I've been back in Paris and I feel like I have lived 100 lives, in the best and worst ways. In the months leading up to this, I couldn't WAIT to be back, surrounded by new energy and friends. While this month has been nothing short of amazing, there comes with this, a duality of struggle. Struggling to feel settled in, struggling with a different pace of life which has led me to feel quite out of touch with myself lately.

In many ways, I am an extrovert. I love the thrill of meeting new people, hearing their stories, and making new, exciting connections. When I am feeling sure of myself, the opportunities seem endless. However, when I go go go, without a break, I often struggle to tell myself to just chill, take a moment and reconnect.

I have always struggled with balance. It feels like I am either go go go, or completely off. And thank god I had the opportunity to escape to the countryside this weekend, a full weekend alone, just to reset.

My first night alone here, it felt sort of... well... lonely. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to get out of this weekend. The hardest part lately about moving back to France has honestly just been cooking alone. Since I was living back at home these past couple of months, I had almost always had someone to share meals with and meal time felt fun and effortless since I was doing it, almost always in the company of others. It is funny because it's not like I can't cook alone, but it was the tradition, the routine that I had started to integrate into my identity. Now, cooking has felt just so unfulfilling.

I told myself that I would take full advantage of the kitchen here in the countryside, so I decided to go full throttle: go to my favorite market, buy fresh veggies, and of course, my favorite, salmon.

Little did I know how much joy this would bring me.

I felt like this act of self-care around an area in my life lately that has felt exhausting, and really allowing myself the space to enjoy it again, has brought me so much more peace moving forward as I continue to settle back into life here.

Given that it is now Sunday night, I feel extremely grateful that I have given myself permission to just, "be" this weekend and come back to the simple joys that sometimes city life and feel so devoid of. As I go back to the city after this luxurious weekend of checking in with myself, I am hoping that I will carry this sense of peace with me, that I really can find the simple pleasures in a city (out of all cities, Paris makes this endeavor quite easy). While at this time in my life I am prioritizing making friends, connections, and memories in the city I love so much, I hope that I can continue to carry the peace and clarity that the countryside has brought out of me this weekend.

And with that, make sure to check in with yourself this week... I hope you have the courage to let yourself redefine areas in your life that you might struggle with.

I'd like to know in the comments, how do you plan to check in with yourself this week?

As always, thanks again for coming to my corner of the internet, and all the love from the south of Paris <3

à la prochaine,

Kristin