The painted sign reads: "To live well, love well, and let the others say what they will!" Pour bien vivre, bien aimer, et laisser dire. (Picture taken during our family vacation in Aosta, Italy. I repost this photo often because the message is so good and a needed reminder!)
se sublimer (seuh-soo-blee-may)
: to transcend oneself, to go beyond one's limits
Example sentence
Dans ce délicat exercice, elle a le don de se sublimer pour produire une histoire qui va elle, engendrer un moment de bonheur à ses lecteurs. (see translation in the story below)
Audio File: listen to today's word in the following story, written and read aloud by Jean-Marc! Download MP3 or Wav file
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A Day in Kristi's Writing Life… by Jean-Marc
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Today, I want to talk to you about what is a typical day in the life of our dear writer.
Kristi wakes up around six in the morning, opens the door so that Smokey (who then barks and wakes up the whole house), and then Braise, can go out a few minutes) then she kindly prepares us tea.
Next, she returns to our room to drink the tea, to consult her emails, without, unfortunately being able to respond to them for it is soon time to begin her edition.
Now it's time for Jackie and Max to get up and while it is I who takes Max to the bus, it's most often Kristi who takes care of getting Jackie to school.
It is 8:30 and Kristi, most often, still has no idea what she's going to write. For her, inspiration is often synonymous with improvisation.
Ce léger stress et la pression de devoir écrire une édition la plus parfaite en moins de quatre heures, tout en ayant à inclure sponsors, photos, messages vocaux, est une réelle prouesse d’artiste, surtout lorsque cela se produit en moyenne trois fois par semaine.
This slight stress and the pressure to have to write the most perfect edition in less than four hours, all the while including sponsors, photos, vocal messages, is a true prowesse of the artist, especially when this is reproduced, in general, around three times a week.
Dans ce délicat exercice, elle a le don de se sublimer pour produire une histoire qui va elle, engendrer un moment de bonheur à ses lecteurs.
In this delicate exercise, she has the gift of transcending herself in order to produce a story that will itself engender a moment of happiness for her readers.
During this time, Kristi has a real need for calm, and she only gives herself a few short breaks to go and snack on a piece of fruit.
Once her edition is finished, she fixes our lunch, goes to walk the dogs and then, after eating her lunch, she goes to decompress by a little sacred nap.
Next up, it is time to read the story comments which are for her the reward for her morning efforts. She'll then have a little time left to respond to numerous emails and to take care of our kids, meet with friends, and keep the house clean.
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Even if Kristi works alot, she considers herself priviledged to be able to be in contact with so many readers who all have, equally, talent, wisdom and great souls.
=> Listen to today's story, read aloud by Jean-Marc! Download MP3 or Wav file
Jean-Marc, standing next to a mailbox at our cousin's house near Aix. When André and Annie (aunt- and uncle-in-law) hung their boîte à lettres one this magical plane tree… the tree responded by reaching out… for the longest hug in history (it took a decade or two to complete the hug!) Maybe someone should contact the Guiness Book of Records?
Thank you! I enjoyed your translations to yesterday's example sentence. Search the comments box to see them here. Here, again, is the sentence:
Le bonheur des yeux lui ferait-il raccrocher son cœur comme le chapeau du porte-manteau ? (Philippe Rousseau, L'Or des ecrins)
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Comme Sarah LaBelle a dit, “Merci Jean-Marc pour l’histoire, et merci Kristin pour les écrire.” J’étudie le français aux États-Unis (près de Chicago aussi, en fait). J’apprécie toutes vos histoires, et j’aime beaucoup lire les histoires en français, pour pratiquer lisant en français.
Kristin, I am so impressed with your dedication to this blog, and your commitment to your readers. We so appreciate you & your wonderful stories! just emailed you an article from the NY Times called The Art of Being Still – think you’ll enjoy it!
I look forward eagerly to receiving French Word-A-Day and appreciate the enormous effort which must go into producing this wonderful resource for those of us trying to master this difficult but wonderfully interesting language. The most difficult part is the spoken language, and in this regard can anyone explain to me why, in ‘se sublimer’ (30-11-12) the words ‘tout en ayant a inclure…” are pronounced toot-ahin-yo eye-un-cure’ instead of ‘toot-ah-nahvahn-ahn-cleur”?
The words on the painted sign, ‘Pour bien vivre, bien aimer, et laisser dire’ reminded me of Catullus’ famous poem which begins:
‘Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis.
and goes on:
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille,deinde centum,
dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, ..
This is surely ‘bien aimer’!
What a kind glimpse into Kristi’s busy, but very meaningful life! Jean-Marc, you must be very proud of her. Kristi certainly inspires us as she brings her lovely thoughts our way. You are both very much appreciated. Thank you.
Diane Stanley
Oak Ridge, New Jersey
Merci Jean-Marc. Bien que j’aie toujours trop de mails à lire chaque jour, j’apprécie toujours autant de vous lire, tous les deux. On ne se connait pas encore beaucoup, mais j’aime cette idée de semer de belles graines de joie et d’amour dans la vie de tous ses lecteurs. Keep up with the good work, I am proud of you!
Your friend in the English Provence Book Club in Marseilles
I hope it’s not too late to comment. Thank you Jean-Marc for your post today. I have a great husband too, so I know one when I see one. I can feel your love and appreciation for Kristin in your post today.
Most importantly, while your story is sweet, it is also a great learning tool. I am just a beginning French learner and Kristin has been wonderful in helping me with vocabulary, your sentence for sentence style really helps seal the deal. So keep up the posts! You both make an excellent team.
Ce site est fabuleux parce que c’est tout-à-fait natural. Je me sens que je suis en France que je vais visiter en 2013. Je cherche une maison à louer à Languedoc mais je le trouve dificile à trouver de Nouvelle-Zélande! Merci pour votre site web qui est mon favori.
Thank you Jean-Marc for sharing your thoughts about our favorite writer. I know Kristin must appreciate your support.
Anne