When Sparks Fly

Last night I re-watched the movie Julie and Julia with my husband. It was his first time watching it and my second. A lot has happened since my inagurual viewing of the flick in early November of last year. The movie follows Julia Child as her career grows and mirrors it with a 29 year old newly married woman, Julie Powell, who decides to cook a Julia Child recipe every day and blog about it for a year. I was incredibly moved by these two women who went after their dreams and made a life out of personal loves; it actually brought me to tears. Happy tears.

I think we can often find ourselves caught in the rat race not really knowing how we got there. As children, adult life looks glamorous. They (adults) get to do so many things that we can't (like drive cars) while we have to slug our way through school day after day. Then you finally reach adult life and find that driving cars is not all that exciting. Instead you lug yourself to work day after day.

Yet sometimes something happens in all of us. The tiniest spark emerges, the thought...hmmm, I could do that. I've had those sparks light before in my life and I've simply left them in the dark to slowly burn out.

But after losing my father, I made a commitment to follow my dreams. I've become Julia Child and Julie Powell. No, I'm not a household name. And I don't forsee a book deal from this blog. But I have allowed this spark to brighten and it has warmed my soul.

There was a very long period in my life when I would stand in the shower (my thinking place) and stressfully consider, "if I just get through X and X and X then one day I can finally have y". I was standing there drowning in To Do's. My To Do list is now longer then ever and just yesterday I had a major breakdown as my sewing machine seemed to eat my very expensive, end of the roll fabric. Yet breakdowns and all, I can say that I AM happy. These are to do's that I create for myself. This is the path that I want to take.

One other thing that came across in the movie was the wonderful support of Julia and Julie's husbands. Guess who has been adding fuel to my spark all along? Graham. My hubby. The man who said you can do this and who says, "I'm proud of you" just about every day. I am a very lucky woman.

I may not be letting off the savory smells of beef bougionon, rather the aggressive smells of paint fumes, but to me it is the sweet, sweet smell of love. I am proud to be following in the steps of Julia and Julie.

I want to thank my dad for always encouraging me to dream big. From one dreamer to another, thank you, dad. I love you.

Just another day at the office - photo taken in front of Home Depot.