Gratitude | Julie & Julia (Re)inspired Me to Write

Over the long weekend, Jeremiah and I watched Julie & Julia, a biographical film in which a blogger, Julie Powell (Amy Adams), challenges herself to a daring project: she will cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's lauded cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." The film segues back-and-forth between the present - Julie's blogging endeavor - and the past - Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) introduction to, and eventual mastery of, French cuisine in the 1940s. The movie is light, upbeat, and in many ways, mesmerizing.

While I felt connected to Julia Child, I most resonated with Julie Powell. I saw myself in her actions: there's something familiar about challenging oneself to a project and then getting thoroughly stressed about it, even though no one asked you to start it in the first place. ;-) Yet what connected me most to Julie wasn't watching her work through the challenge of cooking; rather, it was the scenes of her sitting down to write.

As Julie slammed out blog posts on her keyboard, I felt moved in a way that was intimately familiar. I felt a sense of longing and nostalgia as Julie jumped, headfirst, into a project. She didn't hesitate or struggle with uncertainty — the challenge was something that she wholeheartedly wanted to do.

The scenes of writing reminded me of my initial days of blogging. Around the 5th grade, I started off with Xanga, on which I wrote winding, intricate recaps of my expeditions on Neopets. As I moved into adolescence, Xanga was replaced by Blogger, where I wrote angsty poems — “the night pumped our blood, rather than our hearts” — and odes to my high school crushes. Then, Tumblr came along and carried me through college — I spilled all of my private thoughts and relationship drama (in hindsight, this was very #embarassing…), but I also made lifelong connections and friendships that I still upkeep & value today. Then, finally, in adulthood, I found Squarespace (hi!).

While I’m still blogging, it’s a bit less consistent and/or uninhibited than in the past. Some of this is due to being busy (teaching, graduate school, and recently buying a home!), but some of it is due to the age of social media: in a world of “influencers” and perfectly-curated content, I’ve allowed writing to feel more like a chore than an outlet.

Enter Julie and Julia.

I won’t beat a dead horse here, but seeing a blogger, back in the 2000s, pound it on out her keyboard just because? Hugely inspiring. Julie didn’t even insert pictures of her meals — she simply believed in the power of the written word and (obviously) it paid off. To make a long story short, Julie & Julia reignited my desire to write for writing’s sake. I remembered that I don’t need to use social media to “promote” my blog, or even write with a specific audience in mind: I can just write because it makes me feel contented and joyful.

What else do I need?