My Sparkling Wish – Spirited Away

I often get asked how my blog came to be, sometimes during interviews, by readers via email, when I sit on panels… My answer is always quite succinct: a mix of the right time at the right place, stars aligning and other clichés. All the answers reflect the truth of how it all started, but what they don’t tell you is everything else that led to the creation of this site… As you know, I grew up in Paris and moved to London when I was 25, over 11 years ago. What you don’t know is that I decided at a very young age I wanted to be a writer. I spent my tweens and teens writing poetry and diarising my life religiously. I entered adulthood still documenting my life in diaries and also started to pen short stories. These were inspired mostly by the darkest aspects of my life and helped me move through tough times. Writing had become my solace and my therapy.After I graduated from my MA in Film Studies, when time came to finally find my very first job, I was fortunate enough to be hired to write video games reviews for a monthly cinema magazine. I thought I’d made it then – I was allowed to play all day and write all night! In mundane rent paying terms, it wasn’t great… So I had to work on the side too: I did shifts in cafés and bars, worked in shops to fund the life I wanted to live. I remember one particular night, after working a double shift in a hip café in Oberkampf by 2am at closing time, someone decided to smash a glass on the bar to protest having to leave. And there I was on my hands and knees cleaning someone else’s blood. I hopped on my Vespa to go home, crying all the way. The only thing that kept me going that night was the knowledge I was going home to my two beloved cats and to my computer, good old reliable friend I could unload all my woes to (and on). You see even when everything seemed to conspire to make me give up my writing dream I was determined to succeed. I never thought of myself as an ambitious person though – having a “career” has never been my fuel. My entire life so far has been fuelled by dreams and the knowledge that somehow,  if I could be strong enough I could make them all happen. What does this have to do with my blog? Well… Everything as it turns out.

Despite its rather shallow subject and easygoing tone, this blog has challenged me, pushed me and made me stronger and more determined than ever. Everyday I sit down to write and there is no certainty I will be able to keep doing it – I could stop being relevant, you could get bored, anything could happen that would make it impossible for me to carry on blogging full time. I can’t allow myself to get stale, to stop creating and thinking. It is a never-ending job, albeit one I adore. I am forever crippled with self-doubt, like everyone else I compare myself to others and have to remind myself daily to be strong, to keep my spirits high and to keep doing what I am doing.

A couple years ago, aged 33, I was finally able to call myself a writer when I was commissioned by Les Editions de la Martinière and SWAROVSKI to write their first book ““. Professionally, it was the scariest thing I’d ever done. I’d been dreaming of writing that first page for so long, that when I sat down to do it I was completely overwhelmed. Not one to give up easily, I soon got a grip on myself and started writing. It felt so good, so exciting – it validated my teenage dreams! An opportunity like this wouldn’t have presented itself if this blog didn’t exist. It also wouldn’t have presented itself if I had gone home that night after cleaning up blood and had decided to give up on the writing dream. I know I haven’t penned the great American novel and I am aware that I am very much a blogger and a journalist first and a writer second but I cherish the fact I carried myself to this point, to this place where I can tell you little stories everyday and casually mention I wrote an entire book.

This blog is also helping me fulfil another dream – something I am currently in the process of doing, something pretty major for me and my family. It isn’t something I can tell you right now, but rest assured I will tell you in due time… After all, my spirit wouldn’t be what it is if it wasn’t for you, dear readers. I hope this story will inspire those of you chasing their dreams to keep dreaming, to be brave and strong and not to let anything get in their way. Take this as an early Christmas wish from me to you.

I choose to wear my “” and “” SWAROVSKI symbolsas they are constant reminders to be strong, spirited and to keep living my dreams. The collection includes six different symbols: “Strength”, “Love”, “Spirit”, “Joy”, “Grace” and “Brilliance”. Each piece of jewellery holds a very personal meaning, making the collection a perfect gift for those you love (or to yourself!) this holiday season.