I recently watched the movie Julie and Julia. I have wanted to watch it for ages because I am a total sucker for food/foodie/chef movies, but Meryl Streep, urgh! I know, I know, so many love her and her acting ability but she grates on me and so, I generally forego movies in which she stars. Hence it taking me years to take the plunge, and yes she completely grated on me but the other main characters completely made up for that annoyance. My major takeaway was that like Julie, I need a deadline, an absolute, a way to be accountable rather than just a commitment to myself.
So here I am making a commitment not just to myself but to you my readers. Five blog posts a week for fifty two weeks. Two hundred and sixty posts taking us all the way to June 21, 2024.
For those of you that know me well, you are accustomed to my “easily distracted by shiny things” persona and my ability to say yes to so many things which unfortunately eventually means saying no to myself and my priorities. Off late though I have been very focused on moving one of my dreams forward, following the map I had planned out, so yay finally some consistency! However, the other dream that feels a little less tangible, mostly because of my lack of confidence, has been allowed to fall by the wayside. Apparently, I just don’t have time for writing. Well perhaps if I stopped saying yes to others I would have plenty of time. And honestly, when I do give time to follow this passion everything else in my life sings. I love it with every fibre of my being.
The main pre-cursor to this epiphany though, is that again I find myself stopped in my tracks with an out of the blue health issue that has me not able to work, simply resting and healing. And as often happens in moments like this we are forced to look at how we got here, what needs to change and how to step into the next best version of ourselves. And simply put, the next best version of me includes writing; not just habit changing but life changing and dream fulfilling.
The ridiculous thing is that I have been writing for many many years, children’s stories, adult novels and teen novellas, all of which bar two remain unfinished sitting in my writing folder. I have allowed life to get in the way and my fear of not being good enough to relegate them to a folder on a computer with a back up copy stored away from harm. So in addition to my five blog posts a week for the next 52 weeks, I will also be pulling out and dusting off the relegated writings. Not sure yet where I will start but perhaps it should be as simple as start with the one closest to completion.
Here on my blog expect to read about all manner of things, grandchildren, food, community, parenting oh and did I mention food. My love affair with food has been long standing. I had the privilege of spending my formative years frequenting the kitchens of my friends in multicultural Melbourne. The aromas and taste of foods from Italy, Greece and Malta are engrained in my cells. I look forward to sharing some of those stories with you all. Day one complete. Catch you all tomorrow.
My Journey so far ....... 