Hobby Lobby

Tonight I watched the movie Julie & Julia starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. It was a movie I secretly rolled my eyes at when I opened it Christmas morning. I wasn't the least bit interested in seeing it when it came out and never pursued watching it since. Until tonight.

Tonight I was bored. I'm not bored often so when I am I hardly know what to do with myself. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to do, there's always plenty to be done. But with nowhere to be and noone with whom to interact, I decided I'd pass the evening watching a movie. With the tiny selection of movies I own, I was able to mentally browse my options while rummaging through my refrigerator for some dinner. As I threw together some pasta on the stove, I figured a movie about cooking might be nice. Besides...it was a new movie to me.

Culinary legend Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) life and cookbook provided inspiration to fledgling writer Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days. Julie decides to cook all the recipes in the Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook. Blogging along the way, Julie discovers "a new recipe for life". Read more about the movie here.

Much to my surprise, I enjoyed it. Moreso, I was inspired.

Aside from the beautiful idea of one life affecting another so profoundly, both women found something they loved to do. And from it they found joy (and much more).

So, it's gotten me thinking - I need a hobby.

It's been a long time since I've actively pursued a hobby. I used to scrapbook. I used to spend hours designing pages and "creating memories." Aside from how time consuming and costly it can be, at some point I even stopped taking pictures. Somewhere along the way I decided I wanted to enjoy the moments I was living instead of worrying so much about capturing them on camara.

My mother, on the other hand, looks at life through a camara lens. It's true. She's rarely not taking photos. It's a hobby she pursues daily. My brother is usually wrapped up in the excruciating details of Fantasy Baseball or his favorite sports teams. A friend of mine plays poker for his hobby. Other friends of mine make things like blankets or stuffed animals or even paint things. All very fine hobbies. But what shall mine be?

I hadn't thought about this as much of an important matter until now. And I guess it brings about a deeper rooted question: what am I passionate about?

Unlike the two leading ladies from the movie, I'm certain that cooking is not my passion. And judging by the frequency of this blog, neither is writing I suppose. I care deeply about organization and aesthetics, but I'm not sure how that would translate into a hobby necessarily. And I don't think Sudoku counts for anything here.

So whatever it is, I'll figure it out. And with the New Year approaching, what better time then to pursue something that will bring me great joy...

I Just Wanna

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, with a full tummy and a fan blowing in the room, I opened a book. Thumbing through the pages, it was my hope to soon read my way to sleep (Sunday naps are my favorite!). But as I continued to read, I was captivated instead.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was the book of choice. Now I must admit, this is not a common genre for me to read. And I'm not even really that interested in novels turned into motion pictures. But somehow, I was drawn to this woman's search for pleasure, devotion and, ultimately, herself against the backdrop of a few vastly different cultures.

In the early chapters, she reveals the struggles she faced in leaving her marriage and a complicated love affair gone bad. She discloses details of her gruesome depression that followed. Although I cannot relate to the circumstances surrounding her lowest moments, over the last several months I have faced many low moments myself. Her words gripped my heart as she described some moments of crying out to God on the bathroom floor, remembering my own desperate prayers in the same setting.

Throughout this season of her life, Gilbert found joy in one simple hobby: Studying Italian.

Out of all the languages to study in the world, I don't believe Italian is high on the list of usefulness in many countries besides....well...Italy. But she decided to learn it for one reason...

She loved it.

After studying for some time and falling in love with each Italian word, she decided to visit....for 4 months. In fact, she decided to spend an entire year traveling and living in Italy, India and and finally Indonesia (what's with all the I's?). It was in Italy that she pursued what brought her pleasure, and found it in the culture, the language and the food. I loved that she did all this because it brought her joy in a much needed time.

For me, that might very well be this blog.

I love to write. Hand-written journaling is actually therapeutic for me. And I used to be an active Xanga blogger back in the day. But revisiting the blogging scene has not come as easy for me in recent years. As you can see my last post was nearly a year ago, and I'd created this account long before my first post. For some time, though, I've had a nagging desire to post something. The barriers usually take form in the pressure to write something of substance - something deeply profound or thought-provoking. I have asked myself about the reasons I want to write, but kept getting tripped up by questions like...

What is the primary purpose of my blog?
Who is my target audience?
What will I write about?
How often will I post?

Although these may be appropriate questions to ask for someone starting a blog, I can no longer let them obstruct my ability to do something I enjoy. Truth is, I am decidedly removing the pressures of writing (now if only I can do that in more areas of my life...).

Here's the plan....

Just write.


Topics may be sparatic, posts may be infrequent. I may have very few readers, if any at all. But I will find joy in the simple act of doing something I love.


What is something you do just because you love it?


P.S. I could use a litte help on a Title for this Blog....any suggestions?