Julie & Julia – Why It Resonates And Why You Should Go See It.

I just got home from seeing Julie & Julia.  The film really resonated with me, and I think it may resonate with some of you, as well. I think you should go see it. Here’s why:

From as far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a writer. I have always had a love of words. I think it is a natural part of who I am – but I must say, my mom did give me a good shove. She started taking me to the library when I was really young, around 3 years old. I knew that for Christmas, my dad would have a set of new books waiting for me under the tree. To this day, I can spend hours in a book store or library. It’s hard to explain, but when I am around books, I feel at home.

I also love to cook. Again – it’s something that just seemed natural to me. When I was 14, I looked forward when everyone left – and I was alone. Admittedly, I did spend a lot of time on the phone when I had the house to myself, but I also spent time baking …. My mom would come home, and I would have made a three-layer cake, cookies, or a lemon meringue pie.  Yes, I was 14 years old and trying my hand at meringue – something that adults don’t even like to mess with.

I can’t say that I’ve ever really cared about Julia Child before. I’m a fan of Rachael Ray. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – she is my “shero.” Her work ethic is amazing! But anyway, back to the subject at hand. I knew the blog existed. I knew the book existed. I just never read them…

But something told me to go see the movie. And so I did. I was surprised to learn that Julia Child started learning to cook at age 37. And Julie Powell, the woman behind the blog, which led to the book and movie, started her blog right before she turned 30…

And if you’ve been reading Indie Biz Chicks for a while, you know that I started this right before I turned 30.

Kind of a cool coincidence, huh?

The movie says that these women started cooking and writing because they were “lost.” And I guess I kinda started my site for the same reason. Julia Child was living in France (because of her husband’s job) and was looking for something to keep her busy. I started this website when I was living in Alaska (because of my husband’s job) and I wwanted something to keep me busy…

I also knew that I just had to do it. It was inside of me – I had to put it out there. Of course, I wondered if anyone would care, or if I would just be sending my words into cyberspace, without anyone reading them. The movie shows Julie Powell wondering the same things. And it also shows her excitement when she starts attracting readers. I loved that about the movie! I don’t know if I will ever be able to explain the feeling I got when I realized that people were not only reading my site – that they acutally liked it and cared enough to reach out to me by leaving comments or sending me an email. I guess I don’t have to explain it now, I can just tell people to watch this movie!

I used to be afraid of getting older. When I turned 10, I cried because I was never going to be in the single digits again. When I 17, the last thing I wanted to do was turn 18. That meant you were an adult – and I definitely didn’t want to be 21. That seemed so old. As I got closer to 25, I started to dread that number. And any time anyone mentioned 30, I wanted to puke.

That is, until I turned 29. And then the light bulb went off. I was 29 when I got the idea for this website. I gave myself a year to learn how to create a website and put it out there for people to read. As I learned how to make them, I started to gain more self-confidence. I knew that this is what I was meant to do. I finally found it. It felt natural and “right.” It was all I could think about. I would stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning and jump out of bed early the next day. I just had to keep working on it, no matter what.

I just turned 32. And I can honestly say that my 30s have been the best time of my life. Which, is something that some people may find strange. There have been some upsets (like the ending of my marriage), but there have been a lot of good things!

As Oprah would say, I’ve become more of myself. (As luck would have it, the Oprah episode that aired the day of my 30th birthday featured Ellen Burstyn, promoting her book Lessons In Becoming Myself. I knew it was a sign. I bought it, and I learned a lot from it.)

If you’ve been playing around with the idea of having a business, starting a blog, writing a book… but haven’t really dug in your heels, go see this movie. And when you get home, sit your ass down and write out a plan to get started. Take action immediately!

(And yes – I’m taking that advice, too. That book proposal I’ve been working on slowly? Well, I’m going to start attacking it with a fervor and I’m going to send that baby out before September 5! Wish me Luck!)

Now, what are you going to do?