My favorite things
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
“These are a few of my favorite things”… cue up Julie Andrews and “The Sound of Music”.
One of my prominent ADHD symptoms is hyper fixation. When I find something - person, place, thing - that I become interested in, I become obsessed. It’s all consuming. All I can think about, something I surround myself with. I will research relentlessly. I will buy the books, objects, anything that relates to that thing. Most of my fixations are fleeting, lasting a few months, at most. Sometimes, I will go back to the fixation years later, but most I will lose interest as soon as I gain another fixation. However, there a few things that have stuck with me.
Alice in Wonderland. I’ve loved Alice for most of my life. Not only the Disney cartoon, but I can remember the live action made-for-tv movie in the 80’s, the one where Carol Channing was the White Queen, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve talked about it before, how I’ve always related to Alice. Not just being blonde haired, light eyed (my eyes are green, not blue) but in that I escape to my own world, one that isn’t always a bright and happy place.
Paris. I can remember, right around age 8, I had these activity books. They were one of those that had multiple things like coloring pages, word searches, connect the dots, stuff like that. But these one’s also had French in them. I don’t remember where I got them, or even where they ended up, but what I remember was how, just the look of French words, absolutely fascinated me. I resolved to learn French as soon as I could. Of course, that had to wait until I started High School. That desire to learn French never wavered, and it was a no brainer to sign-up for that class. I loved it. But even after four years, I would never be able to survive in Paris. I always had a dream to, not only visit Paris, but to one day relocate to France, maybe even go to college there. Because of my mother, her addictions, and our lack of money, I was not able to join my French Club’s trip to France. I was heartbroken.
Over the years, I would pick up French dictionaries, books, movies, even tried Rosetta Stone, all to further my language skills. When the pandemic hit, I, like a lot of people, wanted to use that time to better myself, including my foreign language skills. Unlike most, I actually did that. I subscribed to a few apps, including (retrying) Rosetta Stone and Babble. Babble has proved to be fantastic for me. Also, watching French New Wave movies with the bf helped… and he was excited that I would actually be willing to sit and watch a movie with him. Of course, I spent most of the time listening and comparing it with the subtitles.
When my daughter “graduated” 8th grade - and don’t get me started how ridiculous I find the idea of 8th grade “graduation” - my bf’s brother and his husband, gifted our children (my daughter and his two kids) trips to Europe. Yeah, I know, they are not only extremely kind and generous, but we all wish we had them as uncles. They took my bf’s son to Germany for three weeks. My bf’s daughter wants to go to Japan, but circumstances have delayed that trip. With my daughter, we chose Paris. Since she’s a minor, and they’re not blood related, they thought it would be easier if I took her. Ummm…. YES! So in April of 2022, during spring break, my daughter and I went on an amazing 11 day trip to Paris. I did okay with my French as was able to communicate when needed. Simple and basic paragraphs, but it was enough. Not once did I encounter the stereotype of French rudeness. Of course, I never started a conversation in English, so that probably helped.
You would think that after visiting, maybe my obsession with Paris, and all thing French would have dissipated… but nope. If anything, it’s become even stronger. My resolve to move to France (or the German/French boarder since it’s easier to ex-pat to Germany than France), is at an all time high. I’ve even upped my French studies. On the recommendation of co-worker (who studies Italian), I joined the app iTalki. There, I have connected with a tutor, Lucie, who has helped my French grow leaps and bounds. Not long ago, I did a language proficiency test, and I’m at a B1 level. If you don’t know language levels, there’s A1, A2, B1, B2, and C. A1 is beginner, and C is native language. In both Germany and France, you have to be at least a B1 in the language in order to apply for citizenship.
I surround myself with both Alice and Paris. My office decor - both home and on-site - is a mix of both. I have a full sleeve tattoo that is all Alice, and I have plans for the Eiffel Tower on my ribs… I just need to work up the courage to do that because, ouch. I have a box that has Alice and Paris themed craft supplies. I have book shelves that contain a plethora of French books and a lot of editions of Alice, plus books about the art of Alice, the philosophies, and the histories. I even bought the French edition of Alice - a cheap one - specifically to rip out pages and use them in art pieces… like today’s.
My obsessions may be all consuming, but they sure do make pretty art.