My Life In France

Feb 14, 2012

I’ve been reading My Life In France recently, and it’s made me very reflective about the state of my own life.

Life for Julia and Paul is much the same as life for me, in many ways. They go to work during the day, they eat dinner at home or go out to restaurants, on the weekends they take advantage of the wonderful city they live in. They’re a young couple in a major metropolis.

The details of how they spend their time are so very different, though, in ways that I envy. As a major example, they make time every week to write letters to Paul’s brother. This was, of course, a necessity in the early ’50s when even a telephone call would have been inappropriately expensive, but the idea of periodically reflecting on and sharing one’s life experiences is quite a pleasant one. In theory, that’s what blogs are for, so perhaps I’ll start using mine again.

In thinking about how I could find time to do such a thing, my mind also rests on how I use my time as it is. Some of it is productive, but I spend a lot of time wasting time reading forgettable articles on the Internet or playing in virtual Skinner boxes. I know a lot of my peers have expressed similar concerns, and I expect it’s a theme I’ll return to in the future, but the book is making me resolve to be more mindful in how I spend my time.

In addition, the book is wonderful. Julia’s descriptions of her adventures are so filled with excitement and wonder that it’s a joy to read. I highly recommend it.