Hope is Alive/ Espoir est Vivant

Jul 10

WHAT IS HOME?

*A reoccurring question mark that is found in my personal, local, global and eternal existence*

I am convinced home is something to be created, cultivated and shared. The journey in-between "here" and "there" can often be marked with pain, disappointment, hurry seeking direction. This hunger and thirst for home is persistent, pushing us into foreign lands, across borders, into new families and confronted with the daily decision to invest and bloom wherever you may be planted.

Birthdays are for gathering, singing, dancing and eating. To commemorate my 23 years spinning around the sun I wanted to celebrate the gift of life with others. My parents chose to give me the name "Hope", with it has come a lifelong search for substance and light. Full of expectations, dreams and desires I continue to thirst for fullness in this gift of life. Hope is alive in Paris... Through art, social engagement and sharing stories I feel fully alive.

Paris is plump with potential and inspiration. Art oozes and drips from every corner. The evening was full of spontaneity and home. Family was found in conversations, connections and collaboration. The recipe for the evening included:

-An ancient cave used by Monks in the 1200s, later turned into a Jazz Club and now turned into a community space called "Genesis"

- a type writer to write notes

-funfetti cookies (the batter brought all the way from a Betty Crocker's box in the US)

-heartfelt and authentic music by Jasmine Guerrero

- Dancing, clapping, conversations

-Stangers, sisters, travelers, old friends and roommates all together in one space

-French rosé, Chinese green tea, English cookies, lots of snacks

- Art work by :

Tzu-Fang Cheng

Béatrice Decomisos

Sylvie Glock

Miranda O'Mahony