Each minute the sun got brighter, I got more comfortable and warm tucked up in my bed. A late night in the city celebrating (and surprising) Lulu and her beautiful 25 years of existence was followed by a long slumber that dragged out until 11. Damn. An entire morning wasted. I always kick myself later in the day when I let my dreary self convince me to get more sleep. Do you ever do that? Justify the actions that you truly hate yourself doing. It usually goes a little something like, "Hailey you had a long night. Go ahead, you should really snooze a little bit more if you want to have a productive day anyways." False.

I finally hopped out of the sheets and into the shower fighting the hangover that was quickly nestling its way in. How did I ever doubt it? Pulled on my now, baggy blue jeans and favorite Seager shirt, packed my backpack with the essentials - my Sony a6000, sigma 30 mm 1.4 lens, Nalgene bottle, current read, Women Who Run with the Wolves, my sunnies, jean jacket, and headphones of course. Never forget the headphones.

Finally, the day has started. I grabbed a crepe on the way out before my stomach began eating itself and realized it was exactly what I didn't want for breakfast. Am I the only one who feels so much pressure when it comes to deciding what to eat? Ah, what a luxury this is though. That's what we ought to remember at the end of the day.

I started for the Louvre and realized that it'd be a shame to spend two weeks in Paris and not hop on a bike once. So, as I went. I tried my best at understanding Paris's Velib bike sharing system which was a fail. Luckily as I was trying to understand the system, a Parisian was returning her rental and walked me through the whole process. A second native helped when I was still clueless. I'll be the first to say that asking the French for guidance is intimidating, but living is about breaking down those zones of comfortability, and if you aren't able to ask for help then you're doing yourself a huge disservice. My ride to the Louvre was incredibly freeing and I was able to see parts of Paris quicker and cheaper than most. Hangover relieved, seriously. P.S. 9/10 Parisians will gladly offer the best help they can.

Once I arrived at the Louvre, I was shocked. I didn't know a space so beautiful in Paris existed and that I hadn't visited earlier in my stay. I finally mustered the courage to buy the ticket and tackle the museum by my lonesome. I'll be honest in telling you that it's hard being alone in a place overflowing with romance and travelers in love. Although the sun was shining in the 70 degree weather, I couldn't help but imagine a different scenario. One with loved ones and friends around. It's easy to feel lonely when your alone and surrounded by various families and friends experiencing bliss in love.

Luck was on my side as I only waited in a five-minute-long line to enter the museum. Each new room I walked through was near empty and quiet. It's huge just like everyone describes and yes the Mona Lisa is small like everyone says. Expect to watch at least ten selfies being taken with her too. Getting through that crowd was like squeezing my way through a festival to get front row for Kings of Leon.

Two and a half hours later I got a glimpse of the Tuileries Garden and made a b-line for the door. The Tuileries Garden is what I expect Heaven to be like - besides the tunnels in the bushes lined with both used and packaged condoms. That was a bit disturbing. What was even more disturbing was seeing kids go in while their oblivious parents sat enjoying themselves. And yes, I absolutely did go tell those parents that their kids should most definitely not hangout in there. Yeah, still currently scarred.

As I laid there in my perfectly lush spot on the huge grass area, I couldn't stop goofily smiling to myself. You know when you start smiling so big to yourself that you begin to laugh and shake your head in astonishment. Astonishment that you're alive and healthy. Astonishment at the things you get so troubled over - as if they even matter in the slightest. I had so many of those moments today. Like what in the world can I ever complain about. It's so beautiful out here. Out here when you start to grow outside of your skin. Grow closer with the air around you, the trees, nature, the energy of your neighbor who's also alone and smiling, probably realizing just what you are. Realizing how truly beautiful and gracious our breath is. To really be alive, man, that is the biggest treasure of them all.

Looking around, I had sisters next to me, both relaxing solo. No phone, nothing to disconnect them more from their surroundings but a book. On the opposite, a group of students passed bottles of wine around and enjoyed extremely lively and infectious laughter.

To me, the day really began when I noticed a young boy playing frisbee by himself. C'mon. Frisbee. By yourself. As a seven year old boy. My heart broke a little. So, I threw my arms up and sure enough, he nodded me over to come catch his throw. He spoke Spanish but enough English to make his personality and thoughts known. We clapped and woo'ed and his parents applauded us when we'd throw a good pass or make a nice catch. We went at it for two hours while people filtered in and out of the space, while dogs chased each other around, while life in the purest of forms existed everywhere. Every so often I'd take a break, have some water, read a few pages. Each time I was happily interrupted by the young boy, Frederico, taking an iPhone selfie of me and him with his parents selfie stick. I guess the need to capture and document memories is just as prominent in seven year olds as it is in adults. He introduced me to his parents who explained they are visiting from Venezuela and will be in Paris for four months.

To be raw with you, the day actually began when I realized that I should never let the judgement or opinion of others dictate the way I act and live, let alone ASSUME that everyone is going to have a harsh judgement of what I do or say. Thats what's wrong with the way a lot of us think - we assume, we expect, and we act accordingly. If we can drop our assumptions, we can live free. And others can live free as well.

I stretched in the grass, got active with a few handstands, front-walk-overs (you know, cheer stuff), and made the first move in a game with a stranger. These things would have never been accomplished by a Hailey who cared what a stranger thought. I think once we can live more fearlessly, we will begin to fear our world less. We will travel more, with new people, or just by ourself perhaps. We'll reach out to strangers, start more conversations, become more accepting. When you truly start to care less about what others think, you experience more strength behind your words and actions. You find confidence in your mentality and in your heart. It's easier to do the right thing and to feel good about you effort. It's a cycle of good living.

Well if you've gotten this far I commend you. Thanks for reading. So far, this is what the trip has been. Highs and lows, valleys and peaks. Today ended at the mountaintop with three new family-like friends - Frederico, Jose, and Mariam. The greatest type of existence was felt today.

See you when I see you,

H

I hope length doesn't scare you - And if it does I hope you catch that.