For when France seems too far away. Shop for inspiring images of France and discover travel tips, packing advice, recipes, book reviews and more.
For when France seems too far away. Shop for inspiring images of France and discover travel tips, packing advice, recipes, book reviews and more.

Finally, I’m Feeling Inspired Again

Feeling inspired

Have you ever had a hobby or a passion that you suddenly fell out of love with? What about a thing that you’d done consistently for a long time and then just stopped? 

Well, that’s what happened to me over the past six months. After adoring France and everything French for almost 15 years, one day I woke up and for the first time in a long time, my first thoughts didn’t involve France. Truth be told, I felt like my inspiration had just up and left. I didn’t have any words to write. I ignored our Distant Francophile social media accounts. I let magazine subscriptions lapse. I haven’t done a French class in forever. I gave up buying books about France. I even stopped trying French recipes. 

I’m not entirely sure why my passion for all things French vanished. Melbourne had a really tough Covid lockdown last year which could have triggered it. Maybe it was in part due to the fact that we had no hope of getting to France in the foreseeable future. I do know my grief over the passing of my darling French mentor Alisa definitely had something to do with it. And my day job and my coaching practice (janellewehsack.com) both grew dramatically last year too, which meant that I had plenty to keep me occupied. 

Anyhow, regardless of the reason behind its disappearance, I definitely felt like my inspiration was gone in a heartbeat. 

Pleasingly though, when it finally returned, it arrived as quickly as it had left. An I’m so excited to be feeling inspired again. 

So How Did I Get Back To Feeling Inspired?

Well, I had to dig through some photos recently. Pictures that had left me feeling a bit ‘meh’ the last time I had looked at them. But as I sat down to search for a certain shot, ironically in the middle of Melbourne’s fourth Covid lockdown, it was as if I was seeing all of the photographs in a new light. Memories came flooding in and so did my long, lost enthusiasm for all things French. 

I’m back on Instagram and croissants have returned to our breakfast menu. Australia Post are back delivering books and magazines. And I’m very pleased to be back here writing this post for you.

We still can’t visit France – Australia’s borders basically remain closed. But I have a series of updates and reviews ready to share with you. And I know that many of you are keen to hear more stories from our travels. I’ve always said that I wanted to save those stories for a book that I don’t have any concrete plans to write. But if the last year has taught me anything, it’s that we should follow our inspiration while it’s there. So that’s what I’m going to do. 

I’d love to know – have you ever lost your inspiration for a long-term passion, only to have it suddenly return? Or has there been something you’ve let go of during the pandemic? Have you been feeling inspired recently? Please feel free to share in the comments section below.

And until next time – au revoir.

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