As of today, after completing a total of four blog posts in one month, I have zero comments. ZERO. Is anyone even reading this damn blog? Probably not. I’m inspired anyway…
…by the painfully-hilarious memoir Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. In case you are a not a connoisseur of movies or memoirs, this book has been optioned and made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and it’s coming to theaters on August 7…as in, tomorrow. I’ve been reading the book for the last week, and it is poignant and comical. It is based on a blog, also created by the author, that was started in August of 2002 as a part of a project she titled The Julie/Julia Project. Julie Powell decided to spend exactly one year completing all the recipes in Julia Child’s famous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Even though I rarely cook and cannot speak french to save my life, I adore this book because it showcases our own innate sense of determination when we are on a slippery slope to our wits end. Something that starts out as a way to pass the time, a way to fill dead space (and by “dead” I mean useless and agonizing, not empty) turns out to be a saving grace for Julie’s life and marriage. One of my favorite lines thus far is made by Julie’s husband, Eric, as she reveals to him the odd satisfaction she has begun to get from mutilating lobsters on behalf of her cooking project: “By the end of this”, he says, “you’ll be comfortable filleting puppies.” I have to admit that my own husband was none too pleased with my reaction to this line; he was nearly asleep and I laughed so long and hard that the mattress shook and snorts emitted from my half-closed nostrils. This, I believe, is the mark of a fine writer, indeed.
It’s amazing to me the things that we, as humans, find to fill our time, and even more amazing that sometimes they end up being what we’ve been looking for. I believe God plants those ideas in our heads and lets us take the credit for His creativity. I think He’s been trying to say to us all along “This is what you should do, trust Me, it’s a good idea” and all the while we’re walking around in a numb daze going “Whatever shall I do with myself?” Julie’s blog proves that, sometimes, salvation comes in the strangest forms.
For me, writing my novel has been a sort of healing process. I can now look back on particular memories, see them on paper, and think “There they are! Out of me and onto the page!” It’s gratifying. I don’t have to carry them around with me anymore and feel sad that they’re over. I can move forward into something better. Which is what Julie did.
Now if only someone would read my blog, too.