Imagined Paris Podcast

"I don’t even try to get somewhere or something out of meditating; I’m merely resting in my freedom. So, if you see me as acting unhinged, that’s because I’m on another app – I meant because I’m not trying to impress you – isn’t that impressive? ‘My presence is your present’ isn’t a joke, just as ‘your presence is my present’ is momentarily disappointing! Only joking! Wait, which part is the joke?...

(Watch video version on Instagram ) "If life is a river I am water; when I think I am still, I am still flowing - still wet, at least. But do I know for sure I am water, or am I merely trying to explain my constant wetness? Pun is always intended. I can’t help being wet, I am water! Or am I?" (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

"Cut! No more performing. But me performing is part of being myself, as much as my intention to stop performing is part of being myself. Either it’s a curse or a play, I cannot help but be myself. A wave cannot fall out of the ocean." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

"I cried for pages as Goldmund went through the pain of seeing what he previously deemed holy now cold and meaningless and what he used to deem selfish and immoral now pure and healing, in other words essential instead of merely necessary. Am I not still going through the journey of self-acceptance myself? After years of conditioning, which, for the most part, was traumatising and trapping me in g...

"You see how it works? It’s a constant… Ah, I don’t want to call it battle… Process! It’s a constant process dropping the ego, even the superego – the self. They are part of me, they are inseparable, they’re supposed to keep me safe, and moral – wait, moral is just part of safety. I just need to be conscious of them, aware of them and not allow them drive my decisions and actions because it isn’t...

"It's raining where I am and I reckon it's the same where you are. It's hardly been two days since I left you and I am okay, almost like for the first time, but I have no time to talk about the series of heartbreaks that visited..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

"I’m happy and it isn’t a sulky “I’m happy” that characters throw around in a movie when they can’t get what they want, par exemple. When you flow in the river of life, you don’t cling on to every shiny log in your way for too long - you go around it, you go over it. People aren’t logs - yeah, and the logs aren’t always shiny; let them go regardless. There are people and things that can flow with...

"Like jazz, I want people who move - with me and for me; who make noises - with me and for me; who talk to me after the show; who stick with me l’after after l’after ou , bien , laughter after laughter; who share their joint with me in the dimmed alley - these are all metaphors, alright? In love, I want an equal; ‘ let the waves sing fitzgerald - nothing brutal ’ - sorry, I’m hallucinating again....

"Without trust, love will hide behind the clouds and keep me cold, revealing itself only on clear days, too blinding for me to look at. Without fierce loyalty to my true self, my growing and always-becoming self, I will always be imprisoned by other people’s versions of me, whatever rewards seem to be offered to keep me satisfied..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

"I’m not feeling inspired to write to you right now so I’m keeping this short. In fact, I think I’m letting you go. My dreams, my passion, my forceful love for you need to rest. And if you are truly a reflection of myself, I’d like to stop chasing reflections and tackle the essence like a pro, that is from within. If you are truly a reflection of myself, and not the other way around, I will find y...

"Joy is better than calm contentment, for sure, and I am often willing to do nothing to achieve it. When I do nothing, it is intentional – often more intentional than when my undiagnosed ADHD self does something, however overthinking I could be. When I do nothing, it is because something is either beyond my control or I’m allowing it to be – for best results..." (Read the full text on imaginedpari...

"I’m excited and yet my heart is still, Paris. It’s still, like the space between you and my inner self. That space isn’t empty either. Everything I put in there hasn’t gone anywhere. Everything I put in there is what closes the gap between us that the physical space becomes irrelevant..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

(Read the full text on imaginedparis.com)

"I’m listening, Paris. To the waves in your river. To the wind by the canal. To the past-midnight steps my boat shoes drag. To the growing space between the last kiss and the next. I’m listening to the silence that is trying to heal the banging noises in my head - the literal ones too..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com)

"I’ve been feeling light and reassured – my trust in myself playing a big part, I haven’t had time to question the ideologies and if they are aligned – alright, maybe I shouldn’t trust myself that much. Is this how capitalism creeps into our lives? No, capitalism fills us with anxiety and insecurity that motivate us blindly. This is something else – a religion? No, religions also fill us with anxi...

"Wait – how could I even call anything a problem if I keep maintaining this feeling good and satisfied and free and in love in the first place? Because people and things exist outside your mind, dear? They challenge your inner peace; they block the flow of your inner river from time to time. So, anyone and anything outside of me is the problem? No, a problem isn’t a mismatch between what is and wh...

"A subtle kind of touch yet constant, which creates these capillary waves inside my heart, has happened; an interaction with the wind, the subtle yet constant wind, has happened. No splash as when a rock is thrown like a punch, which my heart was used to; this is a dance, ou bien a kiss, between water and air. I’m not talking about astrology here – or am I? Venus in Scorpio here – does that explai...

"Now, what do I perceive as negative? Is it other people’s sadness, instinctive fears, or guilt? No, I do not see honest and pure introspective emotions as negative, I don’t even see heartbreaks as negative – I’m an expert by this point. Everything that brings, potentially or eventually, someone inward and closer to understanding themselves, and, eventually, understanding others, or vice versa, is...

"I have been peeling the layers, shedding the skins a lot more aggressively these days and my discernment is a lot more on point too. Changes have been happening quicker and instead of seeing it as instability I can’t help but recognise it as momentums being gained..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

"I’m sure you do. And I will always try to understand when you can’t show that you do. Come to think about it, my principles and philosophy are the things that often cause me a heartbreak. But might as well, as they’re also the very things that put me back together again. Stronger, even softer, that my heart does not break that much or take too long to mend these days...." (Read the full text on i...

"What about love? Love is my given state, my default setting, even if he didn’t effortlessly make my fussy self quite so easily agree to say yes to one of my least preferred foods galette. But he did, and it turned out to be one of the most ravishingly enjoyable meal I have ever had in my life! It was at Ar Poul Gwen, a few-minute walk from Gare du Nord. Love is my given state, my default setting,...

"I sometimes wonder how many can take you, the full depth and breadth of you, like I can. I sometimes wonder how many, if anyone, can take me, the full depth and breadth of me, my undeniable, demanding presence, like you can. I wonder if I can take anyone, their full depth and breadth, without stealing their freedom, without wanting them to give up what they’re not ready to give. Without losing my...

"In fact, I’d love to learn to drop my ego even more, if that’s possible – that’s possible, and if that means more truths will be revealed and eventually accepted. My power is in my ability to stay soft in the face of difficulties. I care more about balance, and this could be the reason why the pain might not be all that good, or even necessary, for me. We’ll see...." (Read the full text on imagin...

"I am feeling extraordinarily calm and content with my surroundings while at a distance with a place, ou bien with someone, I’m clearly in love with. No – no distance. Only space. Hence the calm and contentment. Reassurance is probably the word I was looking for, and this time it comes from within..." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )

" No one has made it to that status. Just yet. And what happens when that happens? That might be the time to be even more unreasonable and make my heart so portable that it doesn’t matter where I am or whom I’m with I’ll still feel whole. Yet just...." (Read the full text on imaginedparis.com )