I've been reading, and getting inspired by, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.
Yesterday I finished the book and decided I should write an entry about it since it's inspired a few posts already. You can check them out again here and here.
I can relate to this book in so many ways it's amazing. Julie & Julia is a non-fiction story about a woman named Julie who finds out she has PCOS (would you look at that, me too!). As she contemplates she realizes her life and career are in shambles (I definitely am working on the whole "What am I doing with my life?" theme right now too) and to top it off she's turning 30. (Ok, well I'm not there yet but hey 5 years isn't that long!).
So in order to get some sort of momentum in her life, or "creative outlet" with the help from her husband she decides to try to cook her way through Julia Child's cook book Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. That's 524 recipes in 365 days and write a BLOG about it.
Now this book inspires me in different ways. One of course is using a project to allow yourself to grow. When I read the book I realized that it wasn't really about the cooking. It was about making goals and completing them. It was about going beyond what you think you CAN do and doing it. It was about how the project allowed her to grow as a person and reach her potential. It was about proving to herself that she was worth something and because she wrote a daily blog entry about what she learned she was able to work it out in writing and further develop her writing as well.
Now another thing that inspired me was her commitment to her blog. She quickly got a large support of what she liked to call "bleaders" and how their support helped her keep going. I know first hand how the support of bloggers can help me keep going and how important it is to comment on others entries to help them in return. I have mentioned before how my blogging has kind of slowed down and how my commitment to supporting other weight loss enthusiasts has waned as well. This book really brought to light how important it is to keep going.
Then there's the food. Now I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go through an old french cookbook layered with pounds of butter and etc or go to Italy to try out all their food either (that's a different book that is also inspiring though) but using food and cooking it to inspire relationships and creativity. Trying out new things and learning how to make new dishes seems like an important part of life period. I love food but when it comes to cooking it and spending time making a dish I'm horrible. This book has made me want to go out and CREATE something. Something that I KNOW exactly what went in to it and have the satisfaction that the explosion of flavor that's in my mouth was my own doing. It also reminded me that food can really bring people together. It also brought home the idea that the way to a man's heart is through their stomach. LOL. Mine too! LOL
Now the last thing that really stuck with me was learning that Julie Powell started everything after she left the gynecologists office after learning she has PCOS. I realized the second I read that line that MY journey, MY blog, and MY progress all started with the same thing. Being diagnosed with something is a big eye opener. Being diagnosed with the same thing was interesting. It was interesting to see how someone else who went through the same thing used that knowledge to light a fire in her butt just like it did me.
I also realized that I don't mention PCOS as much as I should. It's a big part of my life but I've gotten so accustomed to dealing with it that it's in the back burner most of the time. I think I'll write an entry about my progress in that soon.
But anyway Julie Powell's story helped me realize that I am not alone in this whole "I have to work on my life and get better" thing. Her self-deprecating humor, her repeated cursing, her insights and her analogies are fun to read. Her exaggeration when she can't do something, her honesty at her success or failures, her love of her husband and her raunchy mindset are fun to read and easy to relate to. She writes like a real person and doesn't seem to make herself seem like a cookie cutter person, or a martyr.
Overall I truly enjoyed the book. It made me conscious of how my weight loss efforts are not in vain, how blogging about it DOES help and how I have the potential of doing more with goals.
Do I recommend it. Sure. It's not about weight loss (She actually gained weight, but I mean who wouldn't?) but it's about a life change. And isn't that what this is all about too?
In the end I didn't think this book would be such a big deal, and even as I finish writing this entry I still don't, but then I realize that I just wrote a school report on it. LOL.
I'm glad this book was here to help me realize a lot of things.
Thank you for sharing your story Julie.
love
-w0rld
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