Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Welcome chair

 

 

Wherever you go, there you are.

 

What is one of your favorite idioms, or phrases?

I have to admit, that I have a few, though most of my favorite idioms are not necessarily ones I use on a daily base, or weekly for that matter. If I had to say my favorite idiom based on what I say the most… well, then it would be "Ding Dong". Which makes me think: I should stop saying, "Ding Dong" because my mind might start registering it as truth. Scary thought… maybe it already has? Are we what we think?

Nothing is all true.

 

French pottery jug

My cousin Joan (who came to France a few weeks ago to visit me) invited me to dinner at her home.

Sitting on her dining room table was the French pottery water jug she bought at the brocante.

A water jug that is over a hundred years. I wonder when the potter was making it, if he thought it might one day travel to the USA? Have you ever wondered what you will leave behind, and how far it might travel?

Who knows what cherished item, or unused thing of ours might live another life in a distance land?

Wherever we go… whatever we do… whoever we love… whatever we hold to be true… there we are.

Mindfulness now, knowing that the future is shaped by our going, our journey.

I must stop saying "Ding Dong".

 

 

 

 

Comments

41 responses to “Wherever You Go, There You Are”

  1. M

    That jug is gorgeous – I would hae mistaken it for a teapot, though. Am I biased?
    In regards to favorite idioms, they are at times very personal indeed. They sum up certain personal experiences and Idiosyncrasies, so why not use them again and again? As long as they are yours, they feel right.
    I just looked up the etymology of Idiosyncrasy:
    First attested in 1604, in modern sense since 1665, from Old French idiosyncrasie < Ancient Greek ἰδιοσυγκρασία (idiosunkrasia, “one’s own temperament”) < ἴδιος (idios, “one’s own”) + σύν (sun, “together”) + κρᾶσις (krasis, “temperament”). Now I also understand why I felt suddenly bereft when I noticed that somebody who reads my blog is using one of my favorite idioms, "May i tempt you?" So, Corey, use yours as often as you like, they always put a smile on my face.

    Reply
  2. Zosia

    Funny thing. A few years back, when I still lived in Canada I came to Poland for vacation. I went to a Polish brocante in Warsaw. As I was looking at stalls, I saw a small yellow teapot that had a nice shape and a very rich sunny yellow colour. It was calling to me, but I said to myself, “you don’t need a second tea pot”, and walked on. As I was walking around, the yellow tea pot was on my mind, so finally I gave up, went back to the stall and bought it. When I turned it over, it said “Canada” on the bottom. I took it to Toronto and made tea in it. And now, I am back in Warsaw and the teapot is too, although still somewhere in boxes that are waiting to be unpacked.

    Reply
  3. Jann

    Lately I find myself saying, “It is what it is”.
    Guess that might be acceptance of matters in life
    that I cannot change, or the fact that I am getting
    old and don’t feel like taking on challenges that
    would affect my well being.
    As for wondering what will happen to things we leave
    behind that we cherish, I plan to give those things
    away to the people that I know will appreciate and
    care for them while I am able to, and not leave them
    to be taken by those who would only take them so they
    could sell them over the internet. Wisdom comes with
    age, though not everyone is aware of that fact.
    jann

    Reply
  4. Paulita

    This isn’t an idiom — yet, but my new favorite saying (said in a southern twang) is “Stop making a spectacle of yourself.” We saw it on Toddlers and Tiaras last night. I know it will always make my daughter laugh if I say it.

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  5. Merisi in Vienna

    Zosia,
    one can never have too many teapots, if you ask me. 😉
    Did you know that the Viennese Demmer Tea Company has a teahouse on Krakowskie Przedmiescie? 😉

    Reply
  6. jackie

    I say “there we go” all the time, I never noticed until my kids started saying it, with the same tempo as when I say it…it’s funny how it was “imprinted” onto them. Many religions say thinking or repeating a thought/saying is the same as praying for it…

    Reply
  7. Shelley@thiswhiteshed.blogspot.com

    Daily, I enjoy a cruet set that was passed down from my dad’s family, the Lambs – from Ireland I believe. It’s lustre and purposeful stance look magnificent atop our bar – which is an ancient radio that my grand dad crafted into a cabinet. The mystery of history! There, that’ll be my favourite saying today.

    Reply
  8. Sam

    You should stop saying ding dong, we’re all a bit kooky, it’s what makes us unique. I hope you enjoyed dinner w/ Joan, there is nothing like getting together with a childhood friend, and when it’s family all the better.
    I guess my favorite sayings are “grab life by the horns”, and “think, don’t regret”.

    Reply
  9. Bev

    I hesitate to write this because it might make me sound holier than thou which I am anything but…but what I find myself saying to myself all of the time is “Lord have mercy.”

    Reply
  10. Lee

    Corey,
    You are a living philosopher.

    Reply
  11. amylia

    I say “C’est la vie” a lot.
    My mom taught me “travel light in life, take only what you need.”
    I also say a dangerous one, “Why not? What’s the worst that can happen?”

    Reply
  12. Amy Kortuem

    Yes, you must stop saying that. You must.
    Thoughts become things – so choose the good ones.

    Reply
  13. christine

    I always love seeing things that were once mine in homes of people I love. Now when I see those things I know I will say to myself, “where ever you go there you are.” Thank you Corey for another of your beautiful ways of seeing things.

    Reply
  14. Cathy J.

    My favorite saying is “People only do to you what you allow”. My mother use to say it to me all the time when I was struggling in relationships. Now I say it to my girlfriends when they’re not making wise decisions. I also love Maya Angelo’s “When you know better, you do better”!
    I always tell my friends when they travel “Don’t take any wooden nickels” They always want to know what that means, it means don’t get tricked, taken advantage of, etc.
    Have a great day Corey!

    Reply
  15. Cathy J.

    Correction: Maya Angelou!

    Reply
  16. mimi

    Really enjoyed your blog today. The French in me is also a philosopher! When my children were teenagers,I came upon the phrase “Carpe Diem”. It means “Seize the Day”. Still love it.
    Imagine my surprise when reading a few excerpts from the book you mentioned. The Clinic is in Worcester, MA. Just a few miles from my home.
    I go to a blog in France and find references to my own backyard! Certainly gives new meaning to “Where you go – There you are”!
    By the way, your cousin has a beautiful home. I,like Jann, would give my special things to people who would love them as much as I do.

    Reply
  17. Marilyn

    The water jug is so beautiful. I would have loved finding something like that in France.
    I don’t think I have a favorite saying, now I will have to pay attention.

    Reply
  18. martina

    Friends bought antique opera glasses in Paris. Beautiful mother of pearl inlay. When they showed them to me I had to giggle. They hadn’t noticed that engraved on the eye piece was the name of a jewelery shop and its’ location…Tacoma, Washington. We live in Seattle.

    Reply
  19. debra

    C, don’t stop with the ding-dong. . . each and every time you write “Ding Dong”, I laugh! It is so Corey, so unqiue, and I know that something funny has happened. When I hear others say it, I immediately think of you. I always make French little French comments around my house, and my kids tell me to be quiet. Or, I say “perfect” way too much! Lately, I have really tried to focus on listening better . . .trying to hear and live in the moment.
    xo

    Reply
  20. joodie

    tell Joan she better give me that green pot! F A B U
    grew up hearing my mother say
    “this, too, shall pass” and I have to
    tell you….it has gotten me through
    some tough times over the years…knowing
    that bad times will go away

    Reply
  21. Monica

    As my mom would say,”Of all the things I’ve lost I miss my mind the most.”

    Reply
  22. Gypsy Threads

    The first time I heard that phrase was in a movie called Buckeroo Bonzi, with Jeff Goldblum-way back in the 70’s! I have used that a thousand times, at least. As a matter of fact I even found it in the firm of a rubber stamp!
    How much longer are you in Willows? I am in Chico and was in your mom’s store and left you a pin I had stitched with the word Brocante. I hope you got it. I know your time is full, but I would love ,to meet you since you are not half a world apart. Let me know if this is a possibility!

    Reply
  23. Victoria Ramos

    Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong…….I say it more than once daily and is one of my favorite things to say!!!! I also have a habit of asking people ‘how’s tricks?’ but this younger set I work with don’t have a clue that I am asking ‘what’s up?’…..they think I am asking them about ‘turning tricks’ or something….gish….

    Reply
  24. everton terrace

    My husband and I are always saying to each other “we have more than we will ever need” and I’m a big fan of “this too shall pass” but I think the word I use most is “actually”. I have no idea why and it seems a bit boring 🙂

    Reply
  25. Karen@PasGrand-Chose

    I love Joan’s table – a gift for beautiful settings obviously runs in your family, Corey!

    Reply
  26. bramble

    This too shall pass is a common one here but I recently noticed that when ever someone says something to me I don’t know how to respond to I have started saying “Well there you go!” And magically all seems to be fine even though I am still confused by their circumstance!
    Beautiful pics by the way…thank you.

    Reply
  27. Kathie B

    1. Farmboy Husband is fond of the saying, “That was then, this is now” — as in, acknowledge and live in the reality of the present, not in delusions of the past.
    2. Corey, I’ve been meaning to comment re characterizing yourself as a “Ding dong,” since your blog posts reveal a person of substance and sense — a view I hold even all the more strongly since having met you. Please never sell your self short.
    3. We still have stuff from my late parents’ house in California that came from an assortment of places, including northern Indiana, from which my mother’s parents hailed, and possession that were brought to my folks from around the world — an ornately-carved chest from pre-War Shanghai, a silver music-box from either Germany or Switzerland.
    Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a single thing from the Azores on my dad’s side, except for (apparently) a pair of hand-woven blue-and-white wool counterpanes that appear to have been carefully removed from throw-pillow tops. My mother repeatedly lied to me that they had belonged to her paternal grandmother’s family in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in the mid-1800s — although a textile expert/Civil War re-enacter I later asked re this claim said she’d never, ever seen anything remotely like them in her decades of experience. Yeah, my family lied through their teeth to conceal my dad’s side being Portuguese from me. Wouldn’t they be ticked off to see how I’ve embraced my stolen Azorean heritage? LOL!

    Reply
  28. Cindy

    Hi Corey, I hope you’re having a good visit with your family.
    Wherever you go, there you are, is one of my favourites. I have to say that my absolute favourite is from the movie Babe. All the farm animals are looking through the window at the family inside eating the christmas goose, who the farm animals called, Rosanna. The cow says, “The way things are, is the way things are”. Then Ferdinand, one of the other geese says, “Well, the way things are, stinks!”.
    I find myself quite often repeating what the cow said, and sometimes following it up with what Ferdinand said.

    Reply
  29. denise

    i remember this old guy i used to know, he is deceased. but, he always said this, as the feller said,but i mayself i don’t think so. Bestest,Denise

    Reply
  30. meredith

    Bloom where you are planted…
    from the American Church in Paris guide book. It’s been my motto ever since I picked up the book in 1991.

    Reply
  31. Linda H

    Absolutely love this post!
    Very synchronistic that several people posted
    “This too shall pass.” I thought of that before even I started reading. My meditation on Sunday focused on this very line. And not just thinking about the difficult things that we plow through from time to time. Think of it also as the good things, the good times. Those pass away too. Enjoy the moments while we’re living them!

    Reply
  32. lindamarcov@yahoo.com

    My son pointed out to me that I say O.K. followed by a big sigh, when ever I finish a project or task, or begin one.. and I catch myself doing it all the time, who knew… also Ludmil used to say Okie Dokie.. and I asked him one day My God where did you hear that corn ball expression, and he said without missing a beat from you of course.. so I stopped that one in it’s tracks..
    and YES… STOP with the ding dong.. you so are not a ding dong… O.K.?

    Reply
  33. Rochambeau

    Hello Corey,
    Joan found a perfect jug, and you took a beautiful portrait of it. I’ve always heard of the word idiom, but never really knew exactly what it meant until I looked it up now, so I’m not prepared to answer. Thank you for inspiring me to know what one is!
    xox
    Constance

    Reply
  34. Kathie B

    Upon reflection, I realize that “Wherever You Go, There You Are” and “That was then, this is now” are just the spacial and temporal equivalents of the same sentiment!

    Reply
  35. Karen C

    If someone talked themselves up without credibility my Mum would say “They say they’ll do big things with a stick and a basket of eggs and they end up doing diddly squat.”
    If anyone knows where that expression comes from I would love to know.

    Reply
  36. Lyndee

    When people I am close to, or even when I catch myself start a negative slide in conversation I say ” Get over it!” When I want to buy something not in my budget I tell myself to “Shop at home!” If I like something I say “Sweet!” Those are most common. I just looked at a video of my grandkids running around an island in my daughter’s kitchen in Nashville and noticed again the lovely still life my grandmother painted. Jams loved it and I gave it to her. So it is re-homed and loved again by another.

    Reply
  37. Danna

    Love that!

    Reply
  38. Rhonda P.

    I guess I always say “follow your heart” – it’s my favorite one!

    Reply
  39. Brenda, Walker, LA, USA

    “…If it were not by the Grace Of God….”

    Reply
  40. Jane Ann

    I’m always reminding myself and my children that “attitude, good or bad, is a choice.” I hope I actually learn this one day.

    Reply
  41. cynthia

    Thank you Corey, for this blog, and thanks to everyone who comments. You are all a blessing to me. xoxo

    Reply

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