There is a lot of hype right now about the new movie
Julie & Julia,
the story of a thirty-something woman's search for meaning. Personally,
I found the book annoyingly self-absorbed and was not in the least
entertained reading about unbridled mood swings allegedly set off by
trying to master the art of French cooking as dictated by best selling
cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. As someone who loves to cook and is dedicated to helping
others find their passion in life I am a huge fan of Julia Child.
Listening to a promo piece on NPR this morning, I was reminded that
Julia Child did not publish
Mastering the Art of French Cooking until she was fifty.
Paula Dean, who had a severe
anxiety disorder which
kept her housebound for years, did not start her hugely successful
multi-million dollar enterprise until the age of 42, when she opened a
small catering business. A few years ago I read an article in the AARP
magazine highlighting a woman who had always wanted to become a tenure
track professor at a university. She went back to school in her fifties
and achieved her desired goal. I just finished reading
Three Cups of Tea,
the story of Greg Mortenson's passionate journey building schools for
girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, often under very trying
circumstances. He didn't stop when people told him he was trying to
achieve the impossible. The message is clear, it's never too early or
too late to find and live your passion.
Julie Powell
did not need anyone's approval to begin her cooking and blogging
project. It does not matter that I did not enjoy her book, millions of
others did, it's a best seller and now a movie. She found her passion
and a successful non-cubicle life. The reality is that it was a
compelling enough story that I bought and read the book, I am blogging
about it and I will probably rent the movie when it's available on
Netflix (because I love Meryl Streep, of course).
In this down economy, there are so many opportunities for re-invention,
for finding your passion. All you need is time for reflection, support,
guidance and some tips on how to move forward in this great endeavor of
life. As was said in the Sixties,
Life Is Not A Dress Rehearsal!
So what are you waiting for? If you do two or three small things every
day to move your life forward, at the end of thirty days you will have
taken between sixty and ninety steps toward your desired life. Now
that's what I call living!
