I've just finished reading a wonderful book. I haven't read a book cover to cover in under 4 days in a really long time. In fact, in order to do that I had to let some dishes pile up, some laundry go undone, errands go un-run and dinner unmade for a few days. It felt wrong at times - selfish. Who else will clean off the dining room table, wipe the sticky egg yolk off the counter and wash the cutting boards (that have become pretty permanent on the counter) if I don't? I'll tell you who. No one. And so this morning, they are still there. But I've finished reading this amazing book and it's really done something to me.
Not because it's some great piece of literature but because I can totally identify with the author and the plot. It's sort of a memoir - the author's experiences with cooking all of Julia Child's 500 and some recipes in Mastering the Art of Fine Cooking in 1 year. The writing can be laugh-out-loud funny at times, which makes my dog look at me like I'm a nutter. And the author's descriptions of the culinary successes and disasters are enthralling. However, the thing that touched me about this story is that the author, like Julia Child herself, took on a project. A very spur-of-the-moment-something that would get her out of a rut... and it changed her life forever. What would have happened if she'd never have thought of the Jullie/Julia Project? What would have happened if Julia Child had never decided to take that cooking course in Paris?
What would have happened if I'd never decided (because, really, it all comes back to me), after quitting my high-stress tech job, that I NEEDED a hobby? And what would have happened if directly after that I would have never picked up that issue of Bust magazine in the early months of 2004 and read that article on Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch? I might have never been inspired to try to teach myself to knit. I might have never found that knitting was the one thing that I was driven to do everyday (not so much lately tho, but that's another topic). I might have never become a published knitwear designer. And I just might have gone nuts in that apartment, all day with 3 cats and only housework to entertain me.
There are doors that are waiting to be opened, ideas that are waiting to be realized and decisions that are waiting to be made. We just have to recognize them when they appear. Where would the world be without Julia Child? And Julie Powell might have totally missed out on becoming a writer and having a movie made out of her wonderful book, Julie & Julia. She might still be at her self-professed sucky secretary job.
The thing that I have to remember is that the housework can wait and calling out for pizza once in awhile, because I'm too involved with knitting or reading a good book, are not the end of the world. It doesn't mean that I'm a bad housewife (hahahaha) or a bad mom. In fact, I'm a better person and easier to get along with when I've taken time out for myself than if I've been scrubbing the house and mowing the damn lawn all day. And today, I'm even more inspired after finishing this book. I think I'll go work on one of my designs that I haven't looked at in months. But first I want to leave you with a great quote from the end of the book:
Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It's not what I thought it was. I thought it was all about - I don't know, confidence or will or luck. Those are all some good things to have, no questions. But there's something else, something that these things grow out of.
It's joy.
-Julie Powell, Julie & Julia
