Château Vaux-le-vicomte

French nostalgia gets to me sometimes. I wish I could say, “Listen, I get it, your ancestors made enviable restaurants, clothes, furniture, paintings, films, literature, buildings, and more… but that doesn’t give you the liberté to look down on the origins of others. A long history of hedonistic creation does not result in an inherently cultured population. It's also not a valid excuse for resisting innovation and forward-thinking ideas. Please refrain from reinforcing a stereotype of snobbery, okay? The line between nationalistic pride and narrow-minded self-glorification is a fine one." But then my French "parents" take me on a visit to Châteaux Vaux-le-Vicomte...
And I get it. Oh gosh, do I get it. Such a gorgeous castle! From the architecture to the furniture to the fabrics. And the gardens, oh, the gardens. Thank God for Le Nôtre and the acres of beauty he left us. What an extraordinarily special Saturday afternoon we had at the Châteaux Vaux-le-Vicomte... which brings me back to my original thoughts on French nostalgia. Appreciating the past is so much more positive a force than that of discriminatory remarks. In fact, "nostalgizing helps people relate their past experiences to their present lives in order to make greater meaning of it all," as I recently read in a Huffington Post article. I don't know how I missed the connection to Dr. Lipscom's keynote at the Media Evolution conference. We can better inform our future by keeping history alive and reveling in its aestheticism, a true joie de vivre, if you will. Because that, my friends, is a most beautiful thing.