WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.080 Unfolding. This is where we are, Paris. This 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:12.179 is what we're doing. I have asked for you, and 00:00:12.179 --> 00:00:16.500 thus you exist for me. The you I have imagined 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:22.820 so far. One by one, things are revealed to us 00:00:22.820 --> 00:00:25.960 that bring us closer to the vision. All right, 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:30.239 too abstract for you? Well, you see, the boat 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.579 in Chelsea is booked for a hull service at the 00:00:32.579 --> 00:00:35.179 dry dock on 12th January for a couple of weeks. 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:39.799 Now, consistent with madness as my method, I 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:42.219 was totally calm about where I was going to live 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:45.859 during those days. In any case, my favourite 00:00:45.859 --> 00:00:48.340 boat neighbour, who likes my cooking, surprise, 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.200 surprise, because he's the only neighbour I've 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:52.700 cooked for, who thought my breakup news dangerous 00:00:52.700 --> 00:00:56.039 for single men, and is away in India until February, 00:00:56.909 --> 00:00:59.850 has immediately offered me to stay on his boat 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:03.450 upon hearing the update he asked for. However, 00:01:03.689 --> 00:01:07.709 at about the same time the service date was confirmed, 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:11.930 I saw a Facebook status of a dear jazz singer 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:15.310 friend, whose concert I had just attended at Sunset 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:18.170 Sunside over a week ago, announcing that her 00:01:18.170 --> 00:01:20.769 flat in Montmartre will be empty for some days 00:01:20.769 --> 00:01:25.689 in January, in February and in March. Never mind 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:29.530 February for now, this is my favourite part: it's 00:01:29.530 --> 00:01:34.269 available for a week from 13th January. Can you 00:01:34.269 --> 00:01:38.489 see that things are unfolding, Paris? Things 00:01:38.489 --> 00:01:41.870 are unfolding, and I am enjoying the little details. 00:01:42.629 --> 00:01:45.989 Like the French long-stay visitor visa (I know, 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:48.790 Brexit is still painful for some) that got stuck 00:01:48.790 --> 00:01:51.349 onto my British passport within two days of submission 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:54.489 of documents; like the return of my passport 00:01:54.489 --> 00:01:57.230 from the consulate that matched my filming dates 00:01:57.230 --> 00:02:00.390 in Paris; like me finding out where I was staying 00:02:00.390 --> 00:02:03.969 on the day of my Eurostar departure without specifically 00:02:03.969 --> 00:02:07.049 looking except for a place where I'd feel good, 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:09.930 which turned out to be the film producer's family 00:02:09.930 --> 00:02:14.650 home where all my scenes were to be shot. I enjoyed 00:02:14.650 --> 00:02:19.830 all of it. I often say lately that I'm not a 00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:22.659 religious person; I don't believe in verses. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:27.259 I believe in miracles, however. And my life is 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:31.659 full of miracles. Well, and verses. I'm a poet, 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:36.199 after all. Speaking of which, bilingual republishing 00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:39.280 of my first poetry book is scheduled to enter 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:43.060 pre -print stage by February. Get excited, people. 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:45.819 You don't have to be religious to read my verses. 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:49.639 You'll see that the book itself is a miracle 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:56.159 in your life, says I. I feel exhilarated, Paris. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.020 I feel that everything is falling into place 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:06.460 all of the time. I understand my strengths better. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:09.759 Like hitting the 400 -word mark without espresso. 00:03:10.259 --> 00:03:15.889 Wow. And, thanks to these Sunday podcasts and 00:03:15.889 --> 00:03:18.330 late Saturday nights (artist friends, you know 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:20.909 who you are) that have forced me to wake up and 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.370 write before I get to do anything else, other 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:26.009 than meditation in bed, I have swapped my running 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:28.569 schedule with writing first thing in the morning, 00:03:28.689 --> 00:03:31.830 well, after meditation in bed, for the last couple 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:37.430 of days and it is mwah! Thanks to the same, I 00:03:37.430 --> 00:03:40.409 have also been able to write pretty much wherever 00:03:40.409 --> 00:03:47.620 I am. What am I writing again? Stuff. I'm writing 00:03:47.620 --> 00:03:52.039 stuff. I'm a writer and I write stuff. I remember 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:54.500 just a few months ago, though it feels like a 00:03:54.500 --> 00:03:57.560 lifetime ago, when life, work, relationship, 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:00.960 place to live, seemingly suddenly felt highly 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:06.060 uncertain, a question was posed to me, by myself: 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.990 What do you really want? I wanted to feel free 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:14.490 from all these chains so I could be with Paris 00:04:14.490 --> 00:04:19.649 and write. So I could write. Well, I'm writing 00:04:19.649 --> 00:04:23.850 now. And you know we're inseparable, Paris. Wherever 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:29.089 I am. I started writing for Imagined Paris again 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:31.509 after years that same month and I understand 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:35.290 now how something seemingly so little and so 00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:38.610 insignificant could be the thing that ties everything 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:42.470 up together. I mean, how many of you are listening 00:04:42.470 --> 00:04:47.250 to this right now? Just you? Wonderful. You are 00:04:47.250 --> 00:04:52.089 so significant. You are as significant as every 00:04:52.089 --> 00:04:54.910 little detail in this orchestra conducted by 00:04:54.910 --> 00:05:00.629 the universe to fulfil my wishes. Yes, things 00:05:00.629 --> 00:05:04.930 are unfolding beautifully, Paris. Things are 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:10.040 unfolding, and just like that, I'm hitting my 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:17.300 700-wordmark. Mon coeur est avec toi. Le 28 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:18.779 décembre 2025.