Hello from Marseille Airport,
Our first flight is six hours delayed (!), the kids are happily lost in their Yoto players, and I suddenly have time to read and write.
When we left New York two years ago, it wasn’t part of a grand plan. After twenty years abroad — nine in Mexico and eleven in Brooklyn — I was simply tired. My body knew it before I did. In the past few years, I had developed an autoimmune disease, and I’m pretty sure now that what I really needed was more nature, more light, and more space. So we packed up and moved to Marseille, almost on a whim.
People warned us about this city, but very early on, I knew that being back in France (my home country) would help me re-center. Marseille is chaotic, yes, but it’s also endlessly alive. France’s second-largest city, perfectly wedged between the Mediterranean and a National Park. For the past two years, I’ve looked for nature wherever I could find it, especially the sea, which quickly became part of my daily rhythm.
What I felt instinctively, scientists call “blue health.” Studies show that living near the sea lowers stress, boosts creativity, and increases happiness. The sound of waves literally slows the brain’s rhythms. Even seawater itself is full of minerals like magnesium and iodine that our skin absorbs, helping our bodies relax and recharge. I find that fascinating.
Marine biologists talk about the “blue mind,” that calm, open, creative state we slip into when we’re near water. Swimming half the year under the Marseille sky changed me. The horizon became my daily meditation.
Now, as we get ready to leave for a ten-month journey around the world following the colors of heirloom cotton, working, exploring, and homeschooling along the way, I feel completely recharged. The Mediterranean gave me back my energy and my curiosity.
Below are a few stories I’ve written about Marseille over the past months; the city I fell in love with, and the one I can’t wait to return to in a few months.
As we begin this new chapter, I know I’ll miss the light of the Mediterranean, but I also hope that what Marseille gave me: that blue mind will travel with me.
Our first stop will be New York. The kids are excited to return to the city where they were born, and I’ve already lined up my first meetings around colored cotton. It feels like coming full circle.
Thank you for reading!
-Maud
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