La Marseillaise

Verse 4:

Tremblez, tyrans ! et vous, perfides,
L’opprobre de tous les partis,
(Tremble, tyrants! and you, treacherous ones,
Ignomy of all parties)

I don’t want to write too specifically here why I’ve included “La Marseillaise” in this post (because Forolavache is a feel-good blog), other than to say it’s verse 4 of the French national anthem. However, I was in Marseilles last week, committed to making a painful choice for myself. Marseilles was the place where I could follow through with this choice the fastest, and it only took a night and a day to go for my appointment and return. (I don’t want to be all mysterious about this, but I gave up my US nationality at the consulate there. It was a long and hard decision, made for reasons that don’t fit with Forolavache. If anyone has questions, I can answer in the comments section.)

While I was there, I shed a part of myself permanently, and that feels about like you might imagine. I am sad, perturbed, happy, calm, weirded out, frightened, unsure, serene, relieved. All at the same time.

In the end, this choice won’t change my daily life that much, obviously. What’s been interesting is that along with that decision, I’ve made a few more concrete changes. I’ve changed my media sources, going for more international and French language press. On a day to day level, this choice means that I hear different information coming from a changed point of view. I enjoy this tremendously, and I feel much more calm. The US has the world’s biggest economy and when it hiccups, the whole world rushes forward with a glass of water but other than that, it’s just a blob among other blobs.

And I’m not telling anyone anything new here, but I saw the new Dior ad with Rihanna and she’s amazing. It’s so pleasing to see someone that beautiful and smart, and if the press and her philanthropic endeavors are a sign, probably someone who’s basically caring (I’ve wiki-ed her, and she’s done a lot for cancer research, standing up for LGBTQ rights and so forth — using the platform she’s got to do something other than just cash in.) She’s also not noticeably puffed up or altered with fillers or Botox or whatever, and that’s also a good role model for people.

So be fantastic, let your talents flow, stand up for what you believe in and if there’s a beautiful person out there in the world, don’t forget to stop and admire them.