But as he would also say to our friends, Kati is more Kati in Paris than anywhere else.

I’m reading Paris: A Love Story, by Kati Marton. She’s a former ABC News and NPR correspondent (ex-wife to Peter Jennings) and the author of several books. This one is, first and foremost, her memories of her deceased husband, the diplomat Richard Holbrooke. 

But taken in whole, it’s her own love story of Paris: the city where she went to college, where she fell in love with Jennings, and where she fell in love again with Holbrooke.

This line in particular struck me, perhaps because I’m realizing I feel this way about myself in New York. I am the best version of Courtney when I’m here. I’m more unafraid, unaffected, challenged, interested, engaged — in a city like this, who can help being the best they could be? It’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a requirement.

It’s cheesy, but it’s nice to be somewhere that makes you work for it. That’s the most me that I ever am: when I’m forced to try harder.

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  1. thecourtneyesmith posted this