Dispatch from Paris:  Lessons from the Trenches on Deliberate Creation

I have a client who I should probably be paying because she provided me some world-class inspiration for how to get it done when it seemed like things weren't going her way. The plan was pretty simple. It involved doing only one thing, but doing it with dogged determination. Anyone can do one thing, right?

This woman wanted to live in Paris as long as she could remember. As a child, she dreamed of living in Paris before she even knew Paris was in France. She'd seen a movie with her mother when she was six, filmed with the backdrop of Paris. It stuck in her imagination. As a little girl, when people would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she'd answer the same thing every time. "I want to be living in Paris."

She learned and spoke fluent French by twelve. When she was sixteen her parents took her to visit the City of Lights. She went from infatuation to deep love of the city. She plastered the walls in her room with posters of the Parisian cityscape. She learned to cook French food like a professional and thought about becoming a chef.

In the end, though, she chose fashion design, pursuing an art degree in college. She spent her college summers in Paris but didn't find a way to stay. However, she never stressed how it was going to happen. She knew she'd end up there permanently sooner than later.

In her senior year of college, she got a coveted internship with a fashion magazine that led to the kind of job upon graduating anyone in the industry would have dreamed of. She moved to New York to work as an assistant fashion editor. She didn't love New York. She wasn't sad to be there because she knew it was a stopping point on her way to Paris. So, it was easy to make the best of being someplace the felt like a far distant second at best.

A little more than a year later, it happened. The magazine decided to create a position for a fashion editor in Paris. From that point on she was laser focused and on her manifesting game. Without even pausing to think about it she said, "This job is my ticket. It's a sign. I'm moving to Paris."

Except, she didn't get the job. The magazine determined they wanted someone with more experience and they hired a candidate from another publication. I expected her to be disappointed. She didn't waver. She explained the woman they'd hired for the position had a reputation for jumping jobs. That woman never stayed anywhere too long, which of course, was "a sign I'm moving to Paris."

Three months later the building she lived in sold and she lost her gorgeous apartment near Central Park. I expected her to be stressed. She was not. She moved in with a friend because you know, it was, "a sign I'm moving to Paris."

Two months after that, the senior editor scheduled a private sit down with her. She told me she knew what was going to happen. She was going to be offered an assistant editor position in Paris. Except that didn't happen. Her boss sat her down and apologetically told her they were letting her go. They gave her six weeks notice so she could find another position and a chunk of cash in a severance agreement.

"The magazine industry is changing," he told her. "You may want to look for a position with a label or a design house."

I thought she might be devastated. She wasn't. She didn't skip a beat. She took a deep breath and said, "This is a sign I'm moving to Paris."

One week before she left her job at the magazine that had been her home for two years, the Paris fashion editor finally decided to take another job. She called me and told me, "This is a sign I'm moving to Paris" - except it wasn't. The magazine was obviously downsizing in house positions. They decided to discontinue that position.

Two weeks later I talked to her from her flat in Paris after her first day on the job as Senior fashion editor in Paris for a different magazine. She is one of the youngest senior fashion editors in her business.

I'm actually downplaying her clarity. Every single thing, good and bad, was a sign she was moving to Paris.
Uber was delayed and she was late for an appointment - it was a sign she was moving to Paris.
Great hair day - it was a sign she was moving to Paris.
Boyfriend broke up with her - it was a sign she was moving to Paris.
Food poisoning after takeout Thanksgiving dinner alone - it was a sign she was moving to Paris.
Best friend got engaged - it was a sign she was moving to Paris.

Our heroine was utterly and completely undeterred by reality. She did not get stuck in what seemed practical. She did not get discouraged even when things looked like they weren't going in her direction. She didn't care if people thought she was crazy.

She took everything as evidence the Universe was always conspiring on her behalf, specifically to get her to Paris. Let's face it, that's easy to do when it looks like things are going your way. However, it takes some special kind of determination when things to don't appear to be rolling your direction.

I recently got an e-invite to her wedding, which of course will be a lovely early autumn event in Paris. John Pierre, her fiance, is French but works for a fashion house in London. He is planning on starting his own private fashion label in Paris this summer. They recently bought a flat in the Latin Quarter. Everything seems to be coming up roses and fairy tales.

Want to know who's not surprised? I bet you can guess. She isn't surprised at all.

I was talking to her last week and she said told me John Pierre lost a lease on the warehouse in the fashion district he thought for sure he'd secured. He'd lost some money. It felt like a big deal. She said, without skipping a beat, "This is a sign he's going to have to most successful label launch in history."

All I could think was John Pierre is one lucky man because I've heard that determination in her voice before and I already know how this is going to turn out.


*This story has been shared with permission. Names and details have been changed to protect privacy.

Sharing is sexy. If you liked this article, share, comment, or pass it on.

Lisa Hayes, The Love Whisperer, is an LOA Relationship Coach. She helps clients leverage Law of Attraction to get the relationships they dream about and build the lives they want. Lisa is the author of the newly released hit book, Score Your Soulmate and How to Escape from Relationship Hell and The Passion Plan.