I just got back from Paris. With 80 gorgeous women. Their beauty makes me weep; can you see what I mean from these photos?

Paris.
Why Paris?
The food? The architecture? The museums? The Gauloises?
No. Not really.

There are no words to describe the pleasure we each got from all of those things. But that’s not why Paris.

We were there in hot pursuit of a space, a place, a time.
Hot pursuit of a spell that was cast.
And each of us was filled with the passion and an insistence to cast that spell again.

I take my entire Creation Course to Paris to connect with the Courtesan.
Why Courtesan? I know what you are thinking…you are thinking “prostitute”—and I want to open a new doorway in your imagination.

I want to invite you into the world of the Courtesan. In this case, the Courtesan for the twenty-first century. For centuries, successful Courtesans were the freest women on the planet. From fifteenth-century Rome to nineteenth-century Paris, courtesans charmed and advised Europe’s most important leaders, seduced their way to power, wealth, education, and sexual freedom. They were the arbiters of style, fashion, and trends. Courtesans had the right to own property, to control their own money, to be educated, and to choose their lovers. They cultivated the Womanly Arts. This was a far cry from the other women of this time, who had none of these privileges. Even noblewomen from wealthy families were considered the property of their fathers and husbands. They were denied all the freedoms we take for granted today. Actually, feminism arose because of the courtesan. Women saw the freedom that courtesans possessed, and wanted to experience that for themselves. 

I take my Creation students to Paris because Paris is where the Courtesan was born.
It is life-changing to go to the place that gave rise to the Courtesan.
Historically, the Courtesans are fascinating.

Thousands of years ago, they started as the priestesses of Aphrodite. Over time, they became less priestesses and more sensual companions, and muses, to the men in power.

There was (and is) serious repression for women, globally, in patriarchal cultures.
But these women, who started with no advantages, transcended the repression.
They remade themselves.
They learned how to fence, how to ride, how to write poetry.

They were able to become fabulous.
Instead of forgettable.

Fabulous. Let’s unpack that word: the root is fable, and a fable is a story that restores the meaning to life. Which is what the Courtesans did expertly.
In living their legend, they restored the meaning to life, not only for themselves, but for everyone who encountered them.

We went to Paris to encounter the elements that lead a woman to restore her own legend, to encounter her innate fabulousness, and transcend from the mundane to the magical.
The most difficult dimension to teach a woman is how to become fabulous.
How do we go from good to better?
Usually, we create a bit of good, and then we get lazy and roll back into mediocre. Then it’s such hard work to get back to good again. We’re so used to solving crises and dealing with day-to-day problems, that the threshold to fabulous never gets crossed.

It’s hard work to ascend.
And all the magic is in ascension.
In order to make that leap, a woman needs the right formula. The formula involves sisterhood, tools, arts, community, support, and huge desire – and the spark that ignites it all is Paris.

Paris presses you right up against a gorgeous limestone wall, like a hungry lover, and forces you to remember a forgotten part of yourself. She reminds you that you are more than your hard work, you are more than struggle, striving, and stress. She whispers, “You are poetry, you are beauty, you are magic, you are worthy of worship. Let me serve you the best, the most beautiful, the most delectable. Let me surround you with inspiration, with gorgeous gardens, beautiful cathedrals, winding rivers, exquisite art, to remind you that you are fabulous. This beauty that you have been longing for has been longing for you.”

When your surroundings are beautiful – and what is more beautiful than Paris? – the ascension from good to better is easier.

It is in Paris that each of us can learn what it takes to ascend, and we can make sure to pour that missing trace element back into our lives when we return home.

Let’s use Paris as our inspiration this week. Tell me in the comments below:
Where you can find beauty in your own life?
Where can you find inspiration?
What is happening now that is good, and how can you make it even better?

We all have a bit of Paris inside.
Whether we have set foot in France or not.

With so much love and pleasure,This community is so glorious in its outpouring of love and support for one other. Let’s take each other even higher this week, on the wings of your inner Paris.

p.s. Here are a few more of my fave pics for your viewing pleasure . . .

Big thanks to Creationistas Ninna Amora, Jill Martin, and Kristen Dalzen for sharing their photos with us!