I just got home from watching the movie Julie & Julia earlier today. Not only did I absolutely love it but I found it really inspiring and in many ways applicable to my own life. Part of why I enjoyed it so much was that it had many components that I like: Meryl Streep, Julia Child, french food, cooking, life in France and blogging. All of these are things that I either enjoy watching, doing or finding out more about. The movie also had humor and depicted two loving marriages, albeit with some ups and downs, both also things I enjoy watching. So lots for me to simply enjoy which I did very much.
On another level I found the movie very inspiring as it depicted two women who in essence helped find themselves by exploring something they loved. Julia Child loved both France and its food. She wanted to learn how to cook french food and eventually ended up at the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school which then led to a collaboration on a cookbook that took her eight years to write. The cookbook then went to take her into television and more.
Julie was caught in a dead end job and used cooking as her means of escape and relaxation at the end of the day. She was also the author of an unpublished book. She decided to pull these two loves together by writing a blog about her journey through Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking (all of over 500 recipes made within one year). She eventually developed a loyal blog following, gained publicity, published a book and had a movie made about her.
Here’s the link to Julie Powell’s current blog : What Could Happen?
What I found so inspiring about their stories was they took something they loved and pursued it simply for their own needs. They stuck with it even with major set backs and difficulties and discouragement. They each continued on and in their own way achieved success and recognition for doing what they loved.
What I took away from the movie to apply to my own life:
- Find your passion – something that really lights you up.
- Pursue it in your own way – but do it the best you can do.
- Don’t quit on any goals you have given yourself even when things get tough.
- If success comes – great, if not know that the true gain is what you have learned during your journey.
If you choose to see the movie I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. But even if you don’t – I hope you can bring some of what you truly love to do into your life. Allow yourself to be inspired and then act upon that inspiration!