Tell them

It has been just over 100 days since I left Australia for the second time this year. I am sitting at Café Lomi, the barista now knows exactly who I am and comes straight to the table to say he'll bring me my latte. It is nice to have the feeling of being a local. It's funny, this time last year I was gearing up for my non-event of a 21st birthday suffering from the burden of full time Law and full time work and being sick as a dog from all the stress, and this year I am sitting drinking coffee in Paris.

I spent my morning watching Midnight In Paris, as I had seen a video excerpt last night and had the sudden urge to revisit the Woody Allen film. It was a great start to the morning, along with my cacao quinoa porridge and green tea. I lazed around naked and reminded myself of how great yesterday had been. I had a real 'me' day with shopping in the centre of the city and then making plans with friends here in Paris for my birthday weekend. 

What I also got into was some letter writing. Technology these days makes connection with people so easy sometimes that we forget to put honest, longing meaning into what we say. Catching up is easy with iMessage and Facebook Chat, and we often take for granted the novelty and thoughtful idea of writing something with real weight. We can send each other photos, chat as if we're down the road from each other and the reality that we are across land and sea and time from each other is completely forgotten. 

So I began to write letters to friends. One or two pages of what I've been up to, individualised to each person. And if you haven't received one yet, I would love to write one to anyone so either I am getting around to you or you just need to remind me. It was nice to, in a big block of text, get out what I wanted to say to people without the interruption of time differences and life's responsibilities and routines. When they had the time, the receiver could sit down with a cup of tea, open up the letter and read it. It does not beg a response, it merely is to say 

"I'm here, I'm doing things, these are the things I am doing and yes you're in my thoughts."

And I think that that is really important.