Tea at Trianon: How Living in the Middle of Nowhere Is an Introvert Dream Come True

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

How Living in the Middle of Nowhere Is an Introvert Dream Come True

From Introvert, Dear:

As it turns out, a cabin in the woods is an ideal setting to ride out a global pandemic. Our natural introversion and circumstantial lack of friends proved to be a winning combo — when lockdowns hit, our lifestyle was largely unaffected. We went from spending our days alone in a cabin in the woods while others socialized, to spending our days alone in a cabin in the woods while others struggled to isolate. Remote school programs became available. We enrolled our daughter in online learning and she began to thrive. She met other kids like her, many of whom were introverts with previous experience being bullied. I allowed our journey to chisel away parts of myself that no longer fit. I left my role as a finance and tech copywriter to train as a mindfulness instructor and started delivering workshops to corporate audiences. I wrote and self-published my first book — based largely on the lessons I’d learned during the last four years. (Read more.)