"Julie & Julia", a movie based on a blog by Julie Powell who found bliss and inspiration thru Julia Child's life and cooking. This is a true story of two women who heed the calling of cooking and writing which in the process lead them to their successful careers.
I'm personally inspired by the life that Julia Child led. She's one charmed woman who was graceful, wise, laughed a lot inspite of setbacks, had an unwavering perserverance and loved her supportive husband dearly. Julie on the other hand, although I'm not as enamored by her character, is a woman who changed her destiny by following her husband's advice to start a blog in order to document her cooking adventures based on Julia Child's recipes. Who would have thought that would lead her to publishing a book and a movie!?!
Two beautiful women, lots of life lessons to learn from their charmed lives:
It makes a difference when you have a supportive husband. Both Julia and Julie's husbands were pivotal in the success of their endeavors. Their husbands were generous with time, support and ideas and were very good at listening to their wives' rants and raves. I believe that in marriage, you and your partner should know when to step back on the sidelines once in a while just so one can achieve his/her personal goals.
It makes a difference when you have a supportive husband. Both Julia and Julie's husbands were pivotal in the success of their endeavors. Their husbands were generous with time, support and ideas and were very good at listening to their wives' rants and raves. I believe that in marriage, you and your partner should know when to step back on the sidelines once in a while just so one can achieve his/her personal goals.
It also makes a difference when you have a husband who asks "What is it that you really like to do?" In any relationship, it's nice to have someone ask you what you want, what you need and what you love.
In life and cooking, never ever give up. We all know a lot about not giving up when it comes to life in general so I won't go there anymore. But let me emphasize on the cooking part. What I notice most about women who says "I can't cook" is that some of them (take note: some of them, not all) tried cooking but failed so they never tried again. Some women come to me and say "I'm not good at cooking" and I always say, "So what if you're not good with cooking? Just cook, later on it will get better. It doesn't have to be perfect, it only has to be edible."
No one is too old to learn. I never believed in late bloomers. What I believe is that we are entitled to learn and bloom at our own pace and liking. Forget numbers. Forget age. If you find yourself wanting to learn how to draw at age 40, go and just do that. Julia Child started attending cooking lessons at aged 37--amazing, yeah?
Find balance in managing family life and attaining personal goals. Actually, for me, there should always be balance in everything--which is something I always try to attain in my everyday life. But for the purpose of learning a lesson from this movie, let's focus on what Julie Powell forgot to maintain during the time when she had a fight with her husband over her being a self-absorbed bitch just because she had a deadline on her blog--and that is balance. Balance is hard to attain AND maintain but it is a vital value in keeping up with a woman's role as she manages a home and achieve her personal goals as well. It is that value that will keep you grounded and wise when you face setbacks in your goals. It is that value that will make you say, "Hang on a second, this is not worth losing my husband/family for."
Remember to have a sense of humour, laugh a lot. So what if thing are not falling into place right now? Don't get too disappointed too long because tomorrow (or maybe even in a short while), the sun will peek thru your window again. When something goes wrong, just laugh it off. No one is spared from challenges anyway. What makes a difference is how we react and deal with situations.
In life and cooking, never ever give up. We all know a lot about not giving up when it comes to life in general so I won't go there anymore. But let me emphasize on the cooking part. What I notice most about women who says "I can't cook" is that some of them (take note: some of them, not all) tried cooking but failed so they never tried again. Some women come to me and say "I'm not good at cooking" and I always say, "So what if you're not good with cooking? Just cook, later on it will get better. It doesn't have to be perfect, it only has to be edible."
No one is too old to learn. I never believed in late bloomers. What I believe is that we are entitled to learn and bloom at our own pace and liking. Forget numbers. Forget age. If you find yourself wanting to learn how to draw at age 40, go and just do that. Julia Child started attending cooking lessons at aged 37--amazing, yeah?
Find balance in managing family life and attaining personal goals. Actually, for me, there should always be balance in everything--which is something I always try to attain in my everyday life. But for the purpose of learning a lesson from this movie, let's focus on what Julie Powell forgot to maintain during the time when she had a fight with her husband over her being a self-absorbed bitch just because she had a deadline on her blog--and that is balance. Balance is hard to attain AND maintain but it is a vital value in keeping up with a woman's role as she manages a home and achieve her personal goals as well. It is that value that will keep you grounded and wise when you face setbacks in your goals. It is that value that will make you say, "Hang on a second, this is not worth losing my husband/family for."
Remember to have a sense of humour, laugh a lot. So what if thing are not falling into place right now? Don't get too disappointed too long because tomorrow (or maybe even in a short while), the sun will peek thru your window again. When something goes wrong, just laugh it off. No one is spared from challenges anyway. What makes a difference is how we react and deal with situations.
"Julie and Julia", an uplifting and inspiring story. And to end this post, let me leave you with this sweet words of Paul Child to Julia: "You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life."
