The word essay comes from the french word “essayer” which means to try. I guess that’s what I am doing each morning, when I write these essays, I’m just trying, trying to learn more, love bigger, see further, live better. Maybe that’s what we are all doing. I hope so. There is so much beauty in the attempt.

But that’s not to say it’s easy.

Each day before I write, I do my French lessons with Duolingo. Some days, (not many at all), I breeze through the daily goal and get on with my writing. Other days, (a lot of them), I feel like I’m losing weight with each word typed. Nearly every day there is a piece of my brain that says, just quit. Quit already. But then there is a piece of my heart, the one that loves the man that lives in a country that speaks this weight-loss language, and I try — J’essaie.

And every once in a while, I’m rewarded, like when the clerk understands, when I say bicarbonate de soude, that I need baking soda.  My husband claps in the grocery aisle. We take our victories where we can. And we wake up and we try once again. Maybe this time with a little more courage, strength, and even more important, a little more empathy for all those who are making the attempt.  For all those who are struggling for the tiniest break. For those longing for a round of applause in the grocery store.  

Life is a beautiful journey. I think the doctors and lawyers get it right when they say they are “practicing.” Aren’t we all. Today, I wish you the most success in your attempt to learn, to love, to see, to live.  “Bonne journée !”