It’s a new year, 2010, and the time for new beginnings. I think about things like resolutions and beginnings a lot. The problem is that I just let the thoughts roll around in my head and never try to solidify them into any sort of process or commitment. I have a sense deep inside myself that if I don’t make a promise then I won’t have to keep it. In a way I guess that is taking life very nonchalantly, without purpose. I have had a good life overall, but I feel like I could do more if I had a drive, a passion, a purpose.

David and I brought in the New Year by watching the movie Julie and Julia. I must say that I wasn't expecting what I got from this movie. Something has been stirred and that is appealing to me. The movie was funny (I laughed out loud) and entertaining. Now I want to read the book.

What I saw in Julia Child appealed to me because I could see something of myself in her. I have gone through life looking for a passion. I have learned to do a lot of things in my life trying to find the thing that I would really love. Watching Julia struggle with what really interested her and taking the classes to learn something new was a little like looking into a mirror. The difference between Julia and me is that I have never committed myself to one thing to become accomplished at it. I have many interests and I can do a lot of things, but I am not accomplished at any one thing. I was inspired by her diligence once she realized her true interest was food, when she decided that she wanted to learn to cook French style. I loved her tenaciousness for the classes, trying to get it right and stubbornly practicing to be as good as the men in her class. Her efforts were not the half hearted efforts of a passing hobby, but the diligence of a true love.

Julie on the other hand is my new hero. I understand her struggle with beginning things and not following through to the end. (My blog which I started in April and have 2 posts to date will attest to this.) When she decided to begin her blog and cook through Julia's entire cookbook I felt the overwhelming "giantness" of that undertaking. I never commit to something so wholeheartedly because then I won't have to follow through. When she set the goal to complete her task in a year, I felt nervousness for her to be able to really follow through. Goal setting has never been a favorite of mine as again it means I will need to accomplish something.

So watching a random movie on New Year’s Eve, the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, I ask myself, could I really make any promises and follow through? There are things I finish, like reading through my chronological Bible in a year and some crochet and knitting projects. But, what would I really like to commit to in the New Year? Would I really be willing to set a goal about something big and follow through? I will have to pursue these thoughts. Maybe this blog will be a start of something intriguing.