Jillian's February Post: Feelin' "Sexy"!

While writing the chapter "Feel Sexy" for Change Your Life Through Travel, I met a woman in a café, a new bride who had just turned 35. She had lived and modeled in Paris in her 20’s and told me, "I did some of the biggest runway shows in Paris, with designers like Jean Paul Gauthier and Galiano." Later she moved to New York, where she continued to surround herself with beautiful friends and acquaintances. Yet when I asked what she thought was key to being sexy, she said, “Sexy is something that comes from within. I have seen some of the most fabulously gorgeous women with no sex appeal. I don’t know whether they haven’t quite figured out their bodies yet, or they just don’t have it inside them. Sexy is something that comes from the soul,” she said. "And you just exude it."

People said of Ernest Hemingway that he "was the kind of man to whom men, women, children and dogs were attracted." What was Hemingway's secret? In this Valentine’s month, reserved not just for lovers, here's a Change Your Life Through Travel tip inspired by "Papa":

How about spending an afternoon this way? You may pass many people and not connect with them. But when you do, if only with a fleeting glance on the street, that moment can be magic. And the true joy is that you don’t know how much you may also have sparked someone else’s day. Sometimes an unexpected human connection can make another person feel vibrantly alive.

Arnold Samuelson, a young American writer who spent time with Hemingway in Havana, said that “Papa” met people in Cuba by talking with them at hotels, in line at cafeterias. Follow Hemingway’s lead. Engage a range of people. Surprise yourself.