A Love Story, Part I

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If my experience in Paris – or this journey called life rather – has taught me anything this far, it's to cherish and take care of myself. Learn to live with just myself and no one else. I know, I know, it sounds cheesier than rose flavoured macarons sprinkled with sugar, I knoooow, but it's also so true. I came to Paris newly single, in my early twenties and with the next couple of pages of my life completely unwritten and without any sort of plans for the next couple of years. I've been through rougher times, times when I did nothing but cry over the phone to my mother (bless her for not going completely insane by the way), staying in every single evening dreading to leave the comfort of my own apartment, having my heart broken (and stepped on a couple of times) as well as happier times when I've literally jumped up and down of joy, laughed so hard I've cried my eyes out and found deeper and more genuine friendships than I ever knew existed. I'm thankful for these moments, which I also like to think of as little lessons. People say you learn a lot about yourself in your twenties, which I have to say I thought was a load of bulls*it as a very determined 18-year-old a few years ago, but it's so true. Never before have I've learned so much about myself as I have during these past couple of years (please, stop reading now if the cheesiness is too much for you, I don't blame you) – both about my flaws and about my strengths. I've never felt more capable and independent than I do at this moment and even in saying this I know I have a long way left to go. But I think I'm on the right track anyway. Well, hopefully at least. 

This was not meant to be a text this long (you know I'm not much of a writer and usually prefer to stay in the "photography lane" of things...) but sharing these little thoughts and words feels better than I thought it would. 

Ok, so back to the purpose of this post (which just happened to awake a lot of feelings and emotions within me). I've always been a big fan of the Cartier LOVE bracelet. I'm sure you know it by know, right? If not, the gest of it is: someone is supposed to give it you, lock it (yes, literally lock it) around your wrist, which represents their love being locked in forever sort of thing. Cute, wouldn't you say? When I happened to mention that I wanted to get it for myself to a couple of people a while back I was overwhelmed by responses sounding something similar to this: "Oh no, you should wait for someone else to give that to you" or "Shouldn't someone you love offer that to you as a special gift?". First of all: I doubt that anyone who loves me (no matter how much they love me) wants to give this bracelet away instead of keeping it to themselves (which I kind of understand since it's incredibly pretty), and secondly: shouldn't it be ok to get something as a gift for myself that represents love just as much as it would be for someone else to give it to me? Anyway, this is one of the reasons as to why I fell in love with the idea of the newest addition to the Cartier family. The new LOVE bracelet is a little bit slimmer and offers the possibility to be opened and closed by yourself (which used to be a bit tricky since it included a little screwdriver thingy, which was absolutely necessary to open and close it) without the help from anyone around you. Having lived as a single girl in this city for the last couple of years I truly know the struggles of taking off a dress (a 20-somehting button story has happened more times than I can remember in this apartment), taking off jewellery or whatever it might be after getting back home after an evening out.

Alright, I won't go on and on much longer, I promise. I honestly don't know why this little jewellery update made me feel so empowered, it's kind of ridiculous when you think about it but it felt like a teeny tiny little step forward (and a hell of a lot easier for all single women out there wanting to take their jewellery off by themselves when getting back home). Either way, I hope that whatever bracelet you prefer to get is met by no other comment than: "That's fantastic" or "It will suit you beautifully", whether or not you get it for yourself or for another loved one. Cue the Beyonce music!

A paid partnership with Cartier – Photo of me: Hana Le Van – Hair & Make-up: Trine Juel