movie imitating life

I went to see Julie & Julia a couple of nights ago. LOVE. Of course, the fact that it was about someone doing a 365 day blog probably biased me a little. Julie is very neurotic, yet totally lovable.... feeling stuck in her life with her unfullfilling job (wishing she was a writer) and living in a ratty apartment above a pizza place in Queens. Julia is hilarious, passionate, and happy - but searching for something to do with her time. Her contagious exuberance for life inspiring! Julie decides (at her boyfriend's suggestion) to do a blog about cooking, combining her two loves - writing and cooking. Using Julia's iconic Mastering the Art of French Cooking she decides to cook all 524 recipes in 365 days and blog about it. She sets the deadline of 365 days because without it she is certain she will not follow through. Sounds familiar ... Meanwhile, Julia, living in Paris with her adorable husband, is trying new things. Hat-making anyone? Eventually she decides to go to cooking school - Le Cordon Bleu to be specific. She is competitive and stubborn with her male classmates but wins them over with her humor and skills. She is fearless and does not doubt her ability to get where she wants to be. She's not only going to learn how to cook, she is going to be the best cook! Julie, on the other hand, is doubtful from the beginning. Will anyone read her blog? Why would anyone want to read her blog? While Julie is a glass half-empty type of girl, Julia is a glass half-full type of woman! The story unfolds beautifully as the two women discover their abilities and limitations, and ultimately themselves.

Wrapping this up, I would like to reflect on these two women. Identifying with both women's desire to find a way to channel their passion into a career, I definitely found myself more familiar with Julie's down-in-the-dumps, doubtful outlook on life than Julia's never-say-never, determined optimism. But after watching them travel down their paths I felt like maybe I could begin to look at life a little more like Julia. Her sense of humor reminded me of my own, laughing at herself and relishing silliness. But she also used humor to get through challenges and to ignore her haters. I think it propelled her through her life, allowing her to take risks and move on from failure. I don't know that I will ever shake off my general sense of pessimism (let's not get carried away), but I do think that I could use my own sense of humor to help me take a few risks and take control of my life!

Hang tight through the first 30 seconds of this video - the official trailer will come on shortly!