Mrs Harris & Mrs Coulson Go to Paris
I watched the darling movie Mrs Harris Goes To Paris the other night tucked up in bed with my sweet cat getting ready for my trip to Paris on my 60th Birthday with my hubby!!
I loved this movie and I fell completely in love with Mrs Harris and it reminded me of so many women and their stories of feeling invisible.
Without being a total spoiler, Mrs Harris, a cleaner, is one of the ‘unseen people’ in the world that makes everyone’s life better. She would quietly appear and take care of every detail in the home of her clients and make their lives smooth and seamless without them so much giving a thought to the needs or care of Mrs Harris.
In the wardrobe of her client, she falls in love with a Christian Dior gown. The magic of this gown and her awe for its incredible beauty and the magic she imagines wearing a dress like this inspires her to dream big and to find a way to have such beauty in her life.
Photo Credit: Dávid Lukács / © 2022 Focus Features
Who is she, a cleaning lady to dare to dream of owning one of the world’s most beautiful dresses? But Mrs Harris’s dream and connection to this piece of wearable art inspires her to find a way. Who hasn’t fallen in love with a dress, the fabric, the style, the sparkles, the imagination of how you will feel when you have it on? Who hasn’t imagined going from the invisible to the visible?
I have seen this play out in my own life and those of many women, when we love something so much, when we are so inspired, excited, enthusiastic that our imagination runs wild and from the depths of our soul a desire arises of pure white heat. Whatever it is, we want to bring that desire to life. This energy motivates us to find a way.
It is Mrs Harris’s courage and connection to an ‘impossible dream’ that inspires so many women and men in the movie and the adventure she goes on to have her very own Dior gown.
Visibility is a big deal for women: to be seen, to be recognised, and to be heard. Women in midlife are the Queens of no longer wanting to be invisible, and my new hero is Mrs Harris.
Well, just like Mrs Harris, I love dresses and always have and I am off to Paris, this time for my 60th birthday. I can’t wait to revel in all the beauty, the shop windows, the cafes, and the flowers.
A lot can change in 10 years, when I look at that 50-year-old version of myself, I was another Carla and I love this ever-evolving journey of life and my latest version!!!
So my lovelies, if you feel like watching a sweet movie and seeing that dreaming is essential to our lives, even if your dream is something other than owning a beautiful dress, it’s worthwhile as it can move mountains inside of you and outside of you.
Keep dreaming.
Love and light,
Carla x
P.S. That white hot feeling of enthusiasm will be discussed in my very first ‘short’ LIVE ONLINE WORKSHOP on Vibration coming soon. All details are here.
3 comments
Dear Carla,
Thank you for sharing this movie, it was new to me and not only did I love it for all the wonderful reasons you mention above, but my husband found himself watching it with me, made extra special as his late mother worked as a tailor of Dior gowns in Melbourne “back in the day”. He was moved to be taken back to her times and part of her world and I’m not sure if we would have watched it if I hadn’t seen this post so Thank you!
Happy 60th Birthday, I can see from your subsequent post that you had a magical time which is so deserved!
I found myself on your blog a year after moving overseas from Australia and being diagnosed with Graves disease. I have referred to your posts many times for inspiration in my healing which is still ongoing and have been meaning to thank you for your generosity in sharing your story and path to healing, but it was this post that finally made me comment! Thank you for everything and God bless you xx
A beautiful destination for a special birthday celebration! Enjoy the city of lights with your husband. If you haven’t been yet to the Marais district, I have a feeling, being such an artistic person, you’ll enjoy strolling there very much. And if I may suggest, if you both enjoy a good cup of tea, Mariage Frères Tea salon at 30 Rue Bourg-Tibourg dating to 1854 is quite an experience. Bon voyage and a very Happy Birthday. Leyla.
I fell in love with this Movie when I saw the Angela Lansbury version many, many Years ago plus I’d read the Book as a child when my Mum introduced me to Paul Gallico’s Books. This latest version is wonderful as I adore Lesley Manville as an Actress. Have a wonderful Trip to Paris for your Birthday entering your serene sixties Happy Birthday.