Julie and Julia

Do you ever feel like you're not sure what you want to do in your life? -That you need some sort of inspiration, some direction and some courage to pick up a new hobby, explore other sides or talents within yourself? Or maybe you want to leave what you're comfortable with entirely, and find the motivation to let go and pursue your dreams? This is what Julie and Julia is about, and what makes it more fascinating is that it's a true story- actually, it's based on two true stories- one about young Julie Powell, who, living in Queens, New York, with her husband, is looking for a pass time to make her life more meaningful. The other story is about the enchanting and charismatic Julia Child. Both with a love of food and cooking, their stories run separately throughout the movie. But the connection that Julie creates with Julia Child becomes very influential in her life. Child's cooking and creativity inspires the young Julie without even knowing it. And Julie Powell portrays Julia Child as a perfect woman, her savior, in her own mind and in the hearts and minds of her readers.

Julie starts blogging her cooking adventures, after realizing that she needs something more valuable in her life, something that gives her purpose, a sense of accomplishment, something she can for once, actually complete. She sets a deadline of a year to cook up all of the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, and bases her blog on this project.

How does she do? Julie cries on the kitchen floor when her dishes turn into disasters, she screams in terror as she tries to boil live crabs and the lid of the pot flies open, and she burns her great beef borgignon dish because she is so exhausted and sleeps past its cooking time. But all the while, she creates an environment she is excited to come home to, a challenge that keeps her learning, an art that gives her a sense of purpose. And most importantly, Julie perseveres despite the setbacks.

Meanwhile, Julia Child's story also seems full of hurdles and disappointments. She goes through similar emotions as Julie, even though Julia spends much of her time in Paris, with her husband, surrounded by lavish clothes, furniture and the training of the Cordon Bleu cooking school.

The energy and passion that both women put into their work, the faith they muster up from within themselves, and the fears they admit to but still face head on, and fight through is inspiring. Julie goes from being a cubicle girl at work, who hates her job and doesn't have any "power", to a woman who begins cooking up a storm, refusing to give up on her project, even when her own mother tries to convince her it is a waste of time.

This is a great movie about how even people who we don't know personally can motivate and inspire us, can change our lives9- how art and artists, even from a distance, can create an energy within us that drives us to astonishing feats. Julia Child's will and tenacity creates a strength in Julie that allows her to go for what she wants, despite her fears of not knowing what would come of her project, of her blog.

Thanks for sharing your story, Julie Powell (this movie is based on her book), and for giving us an example of true courage, honesty and a journey to finding yourself. If we could all find that thing that drives us, that makes us feel alive, that gets us excited to wake up every morning, we would be so lucky. Actually, I think we all have it, we just need to be more open to letting it in, and believing that it will grow and form if we allow it to.

This movie makes me want to blog and write, and write and blog, and never ever ever give up on my dreams. What did I learn?

• Maybe hard work really does pay off.
• A husband CAN be supportive about his wife's creative endeavours.
• Living in Queens is not so bad.
• Cooking CAN be fun.
• And people might actually be reading my blog, even if they don't make any comments on it.