I’ve always loved the photo (seen top right on the homepage) that Joe took during a trip to Paris a few years ago, that of a gargoyle looking down from the rooftop of Notre Dame Cathedral. I’ve taken to calling the figure in the photo “the lonely gargoyle,” and consider him the unofficial mascot of Spectatrix. I identify with his pensive and yet seemingly content demeanor as he gazes raptly at the world around him. He may seem monstrous to some, but I’m not put off by his grotesque expression and incongruous horns. I believe he has the soul of a dreamer, and that he is starkly beautiful in his solitude. I feel that at any moment he could unfurl his wings and take to the skies, or remain where he is, happy in his perch above the chaos of the city.
The lonely gargoyle has taken on new meaning for me in the past few weeks, as I’ve contemplated my own dreams of flight. After months of anxiety and stress, I am so pleased to announce that I will soon be joining my gargoyle friend in the City of Light. Joe and I just received our long-stay visas for France, and we will be moving to Paris on July 1st. This plan has been in the works for a year and a half, and we are incredibly excited (and also terrified) that in just over a month we will be leaving our comfortable home in San Francisco for the boulevards and boulangeries of Paris.
This change in our lives has been affecting the frequency of my posts on Spectatrix, but I hope to become more prolific as our list of moving-related tasks decreases. I’m not sure yet how this new environment will affect my introvert sensibilities, but I look forward to exploring cross-cultural differences (and similarities) as they relate to introverts.
