passion and life's callings

right now i am deep in love with julia child's memoir of the years she spent with her husband in paris. i have been taking long baths with my life in france, mesmerized by this amazing woman's experiences and her endearing writing. the thing i can't stop thinking about: she couldn't cook at all until she was well into her thirties! she went to culinary school and graduated at about age 38! this woman, who had a career in food famous enough to lend itself to saturday night live skits, didn't know a thing about her beloved french food, or any food, until she was older than i am now. this both amazes and inspires me.

a favorite passage from the book: "i had always been content to live the butterfly life of fun, with hardly a care in the world. but at the [cooking school], and in the markets and restaurants of paris, i suddenly discovered that cooking was a rich and layered and endlessly fascinating subject. the best way to describe it is to say that i fell in love with french food- the tastes, the processes, the history, the creativity, the wonderful people, the equipment, the rituals. i had never taken anything so seriously in my life- husband and cat excepted- and i could hardly bear to be away from the kitchen. what fun! what a revelation! how magnificent to find my life's calling at long last!"

and so i've been pondering if i've yet found the thing that makes me cry "how magnificent!". for a brief moment i thought i don't know if there's anything that i'm so attached to as to be called my life's work (excepting my loved ones). but i corrected myself quickly because i do know that feeling well, that excitment is felt by me in my many hobbies and interests. i decided that my life's calling has just come in a more broad category. i passionately love cooking, for example, but certainly not to the exclusion of all else. at length i determined that what i take seriously is all things that make a house a home. i love to fold laundry, make cookies, sew pillows, read and learn, play music, organize, have kids running around, and to be the main presence in a home. i love to read home inspiration magazines and actually try what they suggest. i love to grocery shop and try to eek as many meals as i can out of our budget. i love to do dishes. and i love it all so much i want to take pictures of it, even the "mundane". in short, absolutely nothing could make me more happy or excited than being a woman who runs her own home. yes. as not exciting as it may be to some, that alone is my life's calling. 

and that got me thinking about this silly blog i keep. i've never really understood what it is i'm doing by blogging, or why i do it, other than i enjoy it (and mostly that's enough for me). i like that i keep a record for my family, and occaisionally can share with others my thoughts and beliefs, but then what's with the discussions of food or decor or quilts? should i really be so open about pms and baby making? is it worth my time being on the computer to show a knitted bootie? what really is the point of this thing? am i just going to keep blogging forever, or is it ever time to move on? 

i think i know the point now. this meditation on passion and callings led me to understand two things about me:  1. my life's calling is to love and adore the work of a woman. my passion is to learn and create and beautify, and 2. whatever that entails for me each day i will share. because i believe this world needs voices of women who aren't disgruntled with motherhood, who aren't snarky about marriage, and who don't think their home is a prison. (or who at least are trying to see the brighter side). i want to be one of those voices.

so for julia, it's beouf bourginon. for me, it's telling all the world that i love laundry. what's it for you? or don't you know yet? well don't worry, you never know when it will hit you and you can say, "how magnificent to find my life's calling at long last!" after all, julia child was near 40 when she found out she was a chef.

Comments

[ashley m]

do you really love doing the dishes? not my favorite thing in the world. but i do love all other things house wife (almost).

it was so fun to hang with you yesterday- even if it was amazingly cold. it's not supposed to snow in october is it?

[Makayla]

I love learning.

I always have something that I am deeply entrenched in learning at the moment. Right now it is getting out of debt. Other times it has been business, mothering, decorating, nutrition and exercise, cleaning green (i know you hate that word), organic gardening, zeroscaping, WWII, art movements and the list goes on and on.

I really hunger for knowledge and am always trying to better myself.

[tauna]

I came across your blog from a link you gave while guest blogging on tangled and true and have been following your blog ever since. Not really sure why--until this post. You truly summed it up for me: I love reading your blog because you offer a simple celebration of womanhood and motherhood. You offer a beautiful sense of optimism. Your photos are beautiful and serene. Your writing so truthful and candid. Truth is, I got a little nervous reading this post when you alluded to possibly moving on from blogging. You have inspire me to be more creative, to make a baby quilt (thanks for the instructions) and to take beautiful photographs of my family, and, from the Halloween party post, to have more parties. What fun. Thank you for being so candid.
Tauna

[Heather]

Thank you for your words. I still feel as though I am trying to figure out what I love best and what my calling is. I have been getting glimpses of things in my life that lead to this and I have come to the conclusion that I love being happy and sharing that attitude with others. It sounds a little odd, but when I look at things that are going on around me on a daily basis sometimes I find the most joy when I am happy. So, I do like doing laundry as well...when I am happy. I do like washing dishes...when I am happy. When I have this joy inside of me, that is when things occur that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
So I guess I try to do things that make me happy, and blogging is one of them.

[Emily]

I'm going to have to de-lurk and comment--this post deserves it! Thank you for this insight. I feel much the same way about my own personal calling in life. In fact, I've already printed out your #1 and #2 portion to put on my fridge for the times when I forget who I am and what I am doing. You said out loud exactly what is in my heart! Thanks for that!

[Wendy]

I loved your post! I found you from a comment on CjaneSays! From May 2007,
You may not of thought of it recently but I loved it...

"I recently found out i’m not actually as pretty as i always thought i was... i always assumed myself gorgeous because i’d look right into my intense blue eyes in the mirror and be so mesmerized as to not glance elsewhere. oh boy! was i missing a lot of crummy stuff i just found out of boredom. but no matter! i’ll just keep focusing on those dreamy, dreamy eyes…and think about how i have all eternity to be perfect.
p.s. my calves are amazing.

I thought, I love this girl! Who reveals these discoveries of introspection with such outright declarations?

So I followed the link over. What a great blog. I loved this entry!!! When days are more challenging, and I cling to each special word from a child, "Mom your my best friend" It is great to think there is someone out there who is Finding Joy in the Journey. Just loving Laundry. Thanks for Sharing.

[Ashely Schultz]

I am personally so glad you share your life's passion here with us on your blog. I always scan my google reader until I get to the K section and hope there is a new post. No joke. I love, love, love your blog.

For me, other than my loved ones, I feel very drawn to social work (particularly adoption) and photography. Not that those things are my life's mission, but I feel passionately about them. I think that once I become a mom, that will be the thing for me, as it is for you.

[Chantel]

How beautifully put, I think you are right there aren't many voices celebrating motherhood, womanhood and "housemaking" they are dirty words these days, and I for one LOVE reading your thoughts, especially this one, how better to spread the truth, that you really can have a happy life and be at home too! I think woman who share their thoughts and tips are wonderful for those of us like Julia who don't start learning till a bit later! Thank you!

[Mary Elizabeth]

You inspire me to be a better mom. Thanks for bloggin' in detail. It helps more than you know.

[Amanda]

Girl, you said it. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful and personal post.

[Amber]

Love it. Love it all. Your blog keeps me coming back day after day for happiness, inspiration and honesty without nastiness. I agree wholeheartedly about the importance and satisfaction of running a home. I look at my role as a "housewife" as though I am operating my own (mostly) successful business. I just don't have to carry liability insurance. Although, as my kids grow up maybe I should...

Thanks for brightening so many days!

[Jill]

I am so glad you're still blogging. I have come to the same conclusion. You are such a force for good. I especially agree with the snarkiness about husbands.

[Laura]

I am a midwife.

I discovered at the age of 40 that I was not going to die happy unless it was with the word 'midwife' after my name. So I took a deep breath and told my husband that I needed to go back to university because I had discovered what i wanted to do when i grew up. "you'd make a bloody good midwife" were the first words out of of his mouth. Bless his heart.

So now I am 47 years old and after 11 consecutive semesters of university study I am a midwife currently working on labour ward and learning stuff and making a difference in people's lives, women's lives and babies' lives every day. And my heart is happy. It feels like a cosmic conspiracy has come true. It is truly part of God's plan for me to be a midwife.

And my outside matches my inside. I'm living the dream.

Just do it...

[heather hales]

i hate laundry. BUT, I enjoy my marriage and my family. I really believe it is a choice to see the good and positive in our environments.

[Marie]

I love that you share with us all aspects of motherhood...from loving your garden to PMS. I think that's why when I first met you I felt like we connected. And anyone that reads your blog feels that connection with you immediately.

I love what you wrote about Julia Child, and that she didn't find her passion until her late 30's. I think sometimes we feel like we are searching for our passion and if we don't come across it by the time we are 20...that's it, times up! Inspiring to read!!!

[Elizabeth Bryant]

I've concluded that what you love about all those things is that you are serving your family while doing it. From reading your blog over the last year or so, I've seen how much you do for Grant and Cate everyday, even though you may not have the energy. You have a service-oriented heart and that's a REAL talent.

[Marilyn]

Kelly, I love this post. It inspired me. I linked to it, hope you don't mind.

[Heather]

Kelly,
You might just love A THOUSAND DAYS IN VENICE, A THOUSAND DAYS IN TUSCANY and THE LADY IN THE PALAZZO. . . chef, food/travel writer, Marlena DiBlasi is quite an adventurer--I read them aloud to my husband. . .

[Jessica Higbee]

i dont quite know yet what my calling is in life. one of these days it will come to me. i am so glad you are still going to blog. i am so inspired and uplifted by your blog. like i have said before, you are so real. thank you.

[Amy]

You are so inspiring, no matter what your posts are about. I love reading your blog because it is uplifting. And you are just yourself! I love being a Mom that can stay at home, and it's great to read about other Moms that love it too! Even just the simple everyday things can be so beautiful!

[amy]

Loved this post. Kelly, you do such a wonderful job at showing the joy (and sometimes real frustrations) in making a home - and making it beautiful! You give voice to some of my own incoherent thoughts. Thank you.

[Nichole]

Thanks for this today! I was perusing my Google Reader hoping for something "uplifting" and found this post!

Much appreciated!

I think for me, it's writing. But, much like Julia, I think I won't be able to "really pursue" it until my late 30's. Hub is in grad school and kids have to come sometime, so. . . .

[Sara M]

HI Kelly!
I absolutely love being a mommy and home maker , and all things creative and crafty too! Your thoughts about it wew sooo well put! And, you are so, so right - the world needs to hear someone say they love those things! Thank you!!!
Sara :)

[Kate R.]

I so agree with you. Pres. Uchdorf's talk during the Womens' Broadcast was SO wonderful because it opened my eyes to what I already knew. I am a woman, and therefore, a creator, too.

[wendy]

Yes. I also get the same satisfaction out of being a stay at home mom. Completely magnificent (most of the time). ;-) I also homeshool my younger kids and can't believe how much I love that. What a reward it is to be the one to teach them and learn things right alongside them. Thanks for this post. I often feel I have no talent (as I can't craft at all), but what I love to do best is my talent--being a homemaker.

[Marissa]

wow I think I need that book, it sounds so thought provoking in a non-elitists sort of way

[amy]

Did you know Eleanor Roosevelt did not start in politics until her mid to late 30s either?

It gives me hope for that alternative life as a painter I have always dreamed about.

Beauty post, I'll have to check out the book.

[Erin]

I'm one of the many that read your blog, don't comment, and don't know you. But I loved this post so much I had to tell you so. I love being a mother and homemaker. What I love about your blog the most is that you have opened up a whole new world. I am a young mom, and am still trying to grasp what it is I want to do as a mom, what will make our home the happiest, what skills I want to teach my children. Honestly, I know very few people who sew. My mom does, my MIL, too, but everyone I know who sews is old. Sewing almost seemed gone and out before I saw your blog. I love how you hang on to the things that have forever been part of motherhood. I loved to see that you cook with wheat. You knit. You make things. And seeing those things makes me feel good inside like they are right, homey, happy, and I'm wanting to do more of them.

[Melissa]

Well said Kelly. I enjoy your blog and looking into your life. Your in Utah, I'm in Texas...but I do feel like I know you through your posts. Cheers to marriage, motherhood, crafting and happiness!

[tara pollard pakosta]

awesome!
i love laundry and cooking too. i actually even love scrubbing the floors. i don't like bathrooms and emptying the dishwasher though! but i do feel raising my girls is my lifes' work and i want to enjoy and be the best i can at it...all other stuff is secondary....except being a wife! so happy you blog!
tara

[Hadley Howard]

Agree, agree, agree. Being a homemaker is deeply satisfying. I spent a decade working 70-hour weeks at a global PR firm, had an ulcer, never slept, had no life, etc... Now I'm a stay-at-home mommy. I don't knock others' choices because everyone has their own life to lead but, for me, there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME. It's what I'm made for.

Thanks for this post. Love it!

[em]

I loved that book for the same reason. Sometimes I feel like life is just whizzing by so fast and I'm not getting to all the things I would like. Then I realize, hey, she didn't even start until she was how old? I don't have to do it all right now. There are times and seasons, I need to enjoy the season I'm in because I won't get it back once I miss it.
And I've been feeling really strongly about needing to be vocal about the wonderful (if hard) parts of being a mom, and being a homemaker. Homes need to be made, people need them. It makes a difference, even if our kids aren't going to realize and appreciate it for years to come. And if you can ENJOY IT. And FEEL GOOD ABOUT it WHILE doing it, then you've really accomplished something eternal in nature. Even if it involves laundry.

[Marcey]

What a lovely post! We must all put so much pressure on ourselves to find and excel at our passions. And you are right - it just may take time. I am hoping that soon I will know the answer too!

From someone who is on the other side of the fence, celebrate your homemaking status! I would love nothing more....I am currently balancing working and being a mom and homemaker. It is tough. I want more time in a craftroom; more time to fold laundry and more time to try a new recipie. I am so, so happy for your happy little life:) Actually sounds like a BIG HAPPY LIFE!

[ashley]

Hello. I absolutely adore your blog. Your blog is a true celebration of the art of womanhood and mothering; Not just trudging through the daily tasks of lunch packing, dishes, and laundry, but finding purpose and happiness in these daily tasks. The tasks that define us as a homemaker. What joy and happiness so many women are missing out on when they don't sit back and enjoy cleaning the peanut butter handprints off the couch, and folding little pairs of socks and doll sized pants. Being in the home is the best!!! I love to see all your projects on your blog. At night when I am so tired from my 22 month old and 2 month old, I think am I going to sew tonight? Some nights I do. and the nights I don't i look at your blog and am inspired, and think tomorrow I won't be to sleepy to sew! I am making the little party flag banners that you made. So cute!!! Well, anywho... as a fellow lds member, mother, and cookie baking, quilting, sewing gal, I just love your blog!

[Sarie]

Very inspirational, Kelly! Great thoughts, and even more, you sharing your talents helps get me motivated and organized where otherwise I would not be. You're doing much good, sister.

[Ashlie]

I adore every simple ritual that homemaking calls for. Dishes, packing lunches, and planning parties thrill me. I love to scour flea markets and arrange my treasures on shelves and bookcases. I love reading your blog because you appreciate the same things.

[Ali]

Oo! I love this post. I am a new SAHM and am loving every minute of it. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop because everyone said I'd go crazy staying at home with a baby all day. But I really feel like this is what I'm meant to do. And honestly, reading all the blogs about other ladies who feel the same way lets me know I'm not crazy to love this job. Thanks for posting this!

[Jen]

I'm 27 and still searching for my life's calling. Congrats on finding yours and inspiring us all!

[april]

I NEEDED to hear that today! Thanks so much. It's never too late to dream big, even if I am 31 and still single.
This is yet another post that reminds me what a gem your little blog is. Please know that to me, your writing is just as beautiful as your adorable handmade pieces. Thanks for sharing your heart.

[robin]

so, housework is ok but it does hold a certain sense of pride once completed. but being a good example to my daughter - that is what it is all about for me. i love for her to know that being sweet is a good thing, helping others is a must and having fun is very important. i work, but i love my work. being a nurse - esp one to children with cancer ois rewarding and even though i get paid for my job, i know at the end of the day i help people - and i want her to have that same feeling that i get (most days!)

[Ashlee]

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. And for reminding us to continue looking for that passion in life.

[nicole]

kelly - i love your blog for many reasons, but when you share your thoughts is when i truly gain insight. you see - i think so much the same as you - i have highs and lows and i'm vocal about them, i worry that being excited about my home and simple life isn't enough. the difference between you and me is that i have such a hard time formulating what i think and worry about. you do it beautifully.

i too think my passions lie in the home & i hope to have a family filling it someday soon. i also have a very strong attraction to pregnancy and birth - i may explore this by becoming a midwife.

[J.]

Julia Child's story is a testament to the fact that there are times and seasons for everything we do. There's no point in wishing away whatever you're doing in this moment because you can't be doing everything else that you want to do all at once. This is something I have to remind myself of, as a stay at home mom who walked away from a career to raise my children. I miss that other part of my life, and sometimes worry that life is passing me by, but then I look at my children and remember that I have no regrets about what I'm doing now, and that the other stuff will still be there later. It's not easy to remember this sometimes, and your post was a timely reminder. Thanks.

[v and co]

this kind of goes along with the last few emails we had... and Pres. Uchdorf's talk...i think we need to celebrate the little things and the big things. being positive about being a nurturer is where it all begins, finding happiness there first will then bring out the rest of the passions. isn't being a woman wonderful?!

[Rachel]

I discovered my passion during the General Relief Society talk ... creation ... I love to create whether it be novels, mickey mouse cakes, organization out of chaos, hair styles, outfits, parties, friendships ... there is such a magnificent thrill of creating matter out of things unorganized!!!

[Rachel]

Did I mention I love to create Halloween outfits ... yet I am stumped this year — what version of Rachel should I be, yet all the while claiming to be someone else, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer (what were you that night)?

[Rebecca]

Kelly, you're so right. We need to celebrate being mothers, being caretakers, making a home for our family. Sometimes we're so down on ourselves, devaluing what we do... but when we value ourselves, others will too. Thanks for saying it so beautifully.

[Rebecca]

J., just wanted to say that I thought you totally hit the nail on the head - I agree completely. :)

[nikko]

Like another commenter already mentioned, I love your blog for many reasons, but I especially love your insights on domesticity and motherhood. This was an inspiring post. I had no idea that Julia Child was in her thirties when she learned to cook!

[Jogirl]

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[Natalie]

I follow your blog but rarely comment. I just wanted to say how amazing I thought this post is. I love that you love motherhood and building a happy, stable home life. How beautiful to find fulfillment in these things instead of overwhelm, stress, unappreciated, etc. I have felt that it was all so monotonous and under appreciated that it didn't feel worthwhile. But you have really inspired me to feel otherwise. I can appreciate it myself and notice the peace it brings to our home. Thank you.

[marci]

kelly...there have been many days when i have indeed felt those feelings of what the heck am i doing? i am not really doing the world any good because i just stay home. those are the days when i can look at women like you and others that i know and feel a renewed sense of why. so i am very glad that you share your life's talents with us on this little blog.:)

[glor]

Good one. I have been pondering what I want to be when I grow up...now that my baby is in school. But honestly, I still love being a mom and wife and homemaker. Now I just have more time to get other things done, which mostly relate to being a mom and wife and homemaker. I am the happiest when I am putting around the house. "There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort" Jane Austen

[Malissa]

I have not left a comment on your blog yet, I am an avid reader. I wanted to tell you the main reason I read your blog is because you are a mother and homemaker. You show us that motherhood is something that we need to celebrate. I too believe being the person central in the home is the best place to be. I love that you are so candid with all of your readers. Please don't change. You inspire me to be a better person and mother. Thanks!

[Shelly]

I just stumbled upon your blog and so enjoyed reading this post! Thanks for sharing! :-)

[maren]

really beautiful post....thank you!