La vie en rose means “life in pink” in French and is another way to say life through rose glasses. I’ve loved the phrase ever since I heard it played as a song on ukulele by “the mother” in the final season of “How I Met Your Mother.”
I bought the sheet music soon after we purchased our piano, but I could never quite learn it very well. Playing here and there without focus only got me halfway there. So when I signed up for piano lessons a month ago (somewhat on a whim), that was one of the songs I told my teacher I wanted to play. It was supposed to be my fun piece, but it turned out to be a challenge. I disappointedly told my teacher that last week and she laughed. “Just because something is challenging, that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.” She told me how her daughter is learning “Star Wars” music on the piano and that it’s hard, but she’s committed because it’s also fun.
I’m writing this post as a recap of the 2018’s first quarter, and it can be sort of summed up like that piano piece – slow, melodic, a bit challenging, but also rosy. When daylight savings hit, I felt an immediate change in me – like I was coming out of winter’s slumber. Following the holidays I’d been a bear who found a cave for the winter and enjoyed months of hibernation. I savored many weekends that involved plans such as “watching lots of TV,” and “changing from one pair of yoga pants to the other pair of yoga pants.”
I think we all have times in our lives when our bodies and minds decide we need certain things. This winter, I needed life to slow down. I needed to hide from the cold, and plans, and busyness. I needed freshly brewed coffee mornings with Travis, Saturdays and Sundays without alarm clocks, fuzzy blankets, every episode of “The Fosters,” and less phone time. I needed to rewatch some favorite movies with Travis, put together a puzzle, sip wine, and notice the moon.
I wasn’t anti-social, just less social. I didn’t plan too far ahead. I embraced some quiet and tried to be kind to myself and others.
And because this is a recap, here are some rosy highlights in no particular order:
