Seedlings

Passion as Fuel

Have you seen Julie & Julia?  If you haven’t get yourself to a theater! The sheer delight that is created in this film as Julia Child discovers and follows her passion for French cooking is richly entertaining.  Meanwhile, her passion for exploration is mirrored by a protégé’s experience 40 years later as Julie in 365 days tries all 524 recipes in Julia ‘s book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”  The film’s characters reflect off of each other in the ongoing playful banter between mates. Their banter seems to reflect unequivocally the fact that they are crazy about each other through multiple challenges.*

As you can imagine I was hot on this movie from the start as I saw Julia’s passion grow from an appetite for gourmet food and natural curiosity about French cooking to full blown mastery and a desire to share it.  Her quest for mastery and writing about French cooking grew even when thwarted by several obstacles.   Find out all of the juicy details when you attend the movie.

Julia was 49 when she and her co-authors published “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in 1961.By 1963 she had her own television program in the United States, and it ran nationally for 10 years.  During her 60's and 70's she continued to expand her cooking, teaching and entertaining abilities and shared them with millions.  In 1989, at 77 she created what she consider her magnum opus a book and instructional video series collectively entitled The Way To Cook.

Julia’s passion not only for French Cooking but for life kept her growing and glowing well into her elder years.  She is an amazing model of following one’s passion with dedication and verve.  I am not sure that I am inclined to dig into” Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” however, I am truly inspired by this woman’s commitment to her passion(s).

*Turns out, Julie has an affair after writing her second book.  ... After some re-entering this blog post several times to get the formatting "right." I am allowing a little Halloween humor to creep in early and getting on to other things!

Following Your Passion

Eighteen months ago I met a woman over 45 who was thriving as she taught English as a second language in China. Catherine beamed as she shared some of her experiences and how she had documented them in one of her three blogs. Meeting her lit a fire in me, "I want to be encouraging women over forty five to follow their passion(s) as Catherine has!".  Lo, 18 months later I have a client that is doing just that.  She just happens to be leaving for China in a few days as part of pursuing her passion.

This client came to me when she realized her vision for her future is huge and she wants support in staying true to it.  One of her fist major discoveries was that what she previously thought were distractions in her life can actually be part of her plan.

Suzanna wants to teach children important, nurturing life skills through art and story.  She not only wants to teach locally but in other cultures.  However, she felt stuck because a trip to Laos this spring had not resulted in in the generous sharing of stories and images as she had imagined.  So, as she planned for her trip to China, she decided it was important to get a coach to support her in realizing the fruits of that trip and staying on purpose with her larger vision.

So, Suzanna has fresh focus for the trip ahead as well as clarity on what will happen when she returns.  Stay tuned, with her permission I will share a picture or two and link you to her blog.

How about you?

Are your passions clear?

How are you folllowing them?