Day 6 – Be Your Own French Aunt

Secret-Garden.jpgWell, I certainly took to heart the idea of creating a “secret garden”! I spent a very happy couple of hours puttering around rearranging bookshelves and knickknacks to carve our my own space. I am fortunate enough to have a study, but that’s a room that often turns into a catch-all for everything from unopened mail to Christmas decorations, so I truly enjoyed working for 20 minutes here and a half-hour there. I now have a box of books to take to storage (my husband and I have a small house that’s positively crammed with books and we have an off-site “library” that we periodically stock) and two boxes to go to the used bookstore for store credit. What I have now is more carefully curated and organized and just looking at the shelves gives me a little frisson of pleasure.

For Day 6, Mme. Ferris suggests that you “be your own French aunt.” Now, I’ve written before about the essential need for a “French fairy godmother” (“FFG”) and I’m very pleased that I have my own FFG. What Mme. Ferris is talking about here is gathering mentors – both in real life (even simply noticing someone with striking personal style) and in “virtual” life, such as authors and bloggers.  She suggests watching movies such as On Air and reading books that have been translated from French, such as Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog and she points out that YouTube can be a fantastic, free resource.

She also mentions the importance of being the “French aunt” to others through cultivating an attitude of kindness and attention.

What a fantastic charge Day 6 seems to be! Check back in tomorrow to see what progress I’ve made on this one and let’s see what Mme. Ferris has in store for our final day of Week 1!


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