Those Life Has Brought Into My Path: Stephanie Reuillard -André / English teacher, Dance instructor

This post is part of a blog series that continues to unfold the story behind the creation of the book Dreamers and Seekers. In this series, I introduce the people life has brought into my path those whose stories, ways of thinking, or quiet presence have shaped my journey and, ultimately, the book itself.

Each piece is a reflective imprint of an interview. Not a word-for-word retelling, but a personal distillation of the values, experiences, and inner realizations that emerged from each story. Together, these writings reveal something essential: that dreams are rarely born in isolation, and that seeking one’s path is often a shared, communal experience.

The book has not yet been published in English, but it is on its way.

Stephanie’s answers carry a quiet yet unmistakably strong inner light. Not the loud kind of motivation, but a deep conviction that doesn’t need to prove itself it simply is. For her, dreams are not decoration but a compass. Not something to make us feel special, but a way of orienting ourselves, because as human beings we spend only a short time here, and it would be a loss to walk past our own calling.

“I believe that if we don’t follow our dreams or at least don’t even try to then life almost loses its meaning.” Stephanie

What touched me most was the way she connects motherhood with dreaming. Not through sugarcoating, but through responsibility. For her, children are an added layer of motivation. A message she wants to pass on to her daughters again and again, even when, in the eyes of others, the dream feels too bold, too big, too impossible.

“I want to pass on the message to my daughters that they can achieve anything and that they should never stop dreaming.” Stephanie

There is another thread in Stephanie’s story that makes the whole thing deeply human. The West Highland Way. A dream she had at sixteen that eventually became real.

She doesn’t tell it as a miracle story, but the way big things usually happen in real life. Slowly. By putting on the hiking boots. By practicing regularly. By deciding to go even when fear is present. And by holding onto the most important sentence, the one that lives somewhere in the mind of every creator, even if we don’t always dare to say it out loud.

“I am ready. I will do it.” Stephanie

And then there is another sentence she carries with her, one she took from Anne of Green Gables. For me, this line feels like a gentle yet solid permission. Not only to dream, but to try. To understand that failure is not shame, but clear evidence that you lived, that you moved forward, that you dared.

“The best thing that can happen is to try and succeed. The second best thing is to try and fail. The worst thing is not to try at all.” Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables

How did I meet her? Why Stephanie?

Meeting Stephanie after arriving in England felt like a gift from fate. She is living proof that new friendships sometimes fall into your life as if they had been waiting for you all along. Even though I love meeting new people, there is always a quiet layer of anxiety in me about whether I will be accepted, and how a new environment might affect me.

With Stephanie, however, everything unfolded effortlessly and almost magically. Even before she spoke, I could feel her presence, her spirit, her openness. There is something almost otherworldly in her sensitivity, yet she remains completely grounded, warm, kind, and approachable. It feels as though we have known each other for a thousand years, as if our souls had already been connected long before our physical lives crossed paths.

Her words and her presence give me immense strength, and I am deeply grateful that our paths found each other.

Stephanie’s recommendations and sources of inspiration

(Source: Dreamers & Seekers)

Book and film: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Yoga and meditation for stress management and inner clarity

Walking as a way of processing and letting go

Music as a form of mental and emotional cleansing

Dance, especially ecstatic dance, as a space for connection without judgment

Hiking for its connection to nature, community, and inner strength

Thinking in small steps, with strategy and preparation rather than overwhelm

Protecting a circle of trust: not everyone needs to know your plans

Kindness toward yourself, especially during setbacks

Treasures of Experience: Stephanie Reuillard-André

One of Stephanie’s strongest messages is that a dream does not become real because others believe in it, but because you give yourself permission to try. Her faith is not passive, but active. It shows up in preparation, research, practice, and perseverance, paired with a very gentle inner form of self-protection. She does not share her dreams with just anyone, because she knows how contagious doubt can be. She speaks about them only with those she truly trusts.

Through the story of the West Highland Way, she also reveals that strength does not always mean carrying everything alone. Sometimes courage lies in lightening the load. In accepting help. In listening to the right person at the right moment. In drawing a boundary and saying: this is how I can finish, this is how I can make it all the way through.

Her favourite quote feels like an inner handhold during a storm. It does not promise that the path will always be easy, but it reminds us that you are exactly where you need to be. And from this place, you can take the next step forward.

And when she speaks at the end about how she would one day love to weave her poems and photographs into a book, I had the feeling that something is still quietly forming. Something deeply intimate, deeply brave, perhaps the next chapter waiting to be written.

Stephanie’s poems carry quiet yet profound inner movements; in just a few words, they open up entire worlds. They do not explain, but create space for each reader to connect through their own feelings and experiences. This is the gift she shared with us.

It is life

On a grand scale

Rocking your boat

Balancing skills.

Upside down world

Bearings

Darkness enveils

Shadows dance

Light is blinding.

And yet the glow...

Lost and found

In the maze

Yet

The path is so clear...

One, two, three

Four steps

The dance begins.

Something inside you knows...

This is one for the ages

You lose all control

And you let it go

It breathes inside of you...

Alive becomes too small a word

Alive is nothing you had ever known

At the core of your self

Something awakes

At the crossroads.

You will

You know

The one less trodden

Landscapes unravelling

As you stand still

Contemplating

Soul vibrations

Calling

Water and fire

Identical waves.

You feel,

You close

Your eyes.

Open,

Your

Soul...

Listen...

It is time that you hear...

Stephanie