Dancing in the Dark

17. From Paris, With Love

I will however encourage you to travel.
It is so beautiful.
I saw many parts of the world in its magnificent glory and they will not be forgotten till my last breathe.

Its as beautiful at day as it is at night. Especially when you are with the people you love.

Take in its glory, the love and appreciation of it all.

Make friends, and never judge them for how they came to be there. It doesn't matter if they worked three jobs, slept to the top, are rich or broke, or their background and skin colour.

Be nice to everyone you meet, even if they aren't nice to you. It makes them feel bad and they will start to see you in a different light to them.

I don't want you to mourn what you never had because most of the time, you realise you never needed it.

But mourn someone you lose, it is healthy and normal. I once had a very wise friend that use to give me wonderful advice and now, I'm giving it to you.

If we can accept the possibilities our futures can hold for us, we have to accept what has happened in the past. We can't move forward while looking back.

February 2019
I saw the New Year with Uncle Seth and Aunty Seline, arriving on christmas eve.

That week away, back home, it was glorious. I cried when I saw them, I cried when I left and they cried too. It was a full on crying fest.

They loved my performance in Beauty and the Beast and I finally opened up after the twins went to bed, telling them about Max and Paris, the Royal Ballet and even Peter.

As I relived those memories, I came to realise that this life of mine is an adventure, and every adventure has its good parts and unfortunately, its bad bits too.

But as the new year came, the heat of Australia's summer was unrelenting and vicious, I was actually looking forward to the cooler winter months in Paris. The snow as well.

Leaving my only family behind in Australia was sad for me yet again, but they smiled and wished me luck, telling me that this is for the best for me, my dream now a reality.

I was now a professional dancer, a paid dancer.

So I left Australia in one of its brutal heat waves for Paris and its chilly three degree days and even colder nights.

I had an apartment already, part of my contract. I didn't see Max when I said I was taking his offer. I thought as much as I could over it and I decided, I wasn't risking a maybe work out relationship over my career. I've worked too hard to get here and I didn't want to be in London any more.

My apartment was beautiful. Six days a week, I walked to the Opéra Bastille, only being down the road and a couple blocks away, basically, from where I was staying, which was the Le Pavilion de la Reine.

I practiced through the day and when I was home, I was lonely, but I took it upon myself to learn the language.

The view from my windows were amazing, twinkling lights near and far, the streets, the buildings. I know I can get this in any city but this is Paris. I felt the same when I was in Melbourne and again in London.