louisa and julia

I had intended to start this blog 22 months ago when we moved interstate. I wanted to be thoughtful about living in a new city and make the most of this new phase of life. But of course life was more hectic than I expected and harder than I cared to admit.

Part of the inspiration for this was having read My Life in France by Julia Child.
I find reading autobiographies a bit strange, but I guess whatever you read has its own biases. Although at least this book draws heavily on many letters written at the time (and obviously not intended for publication). Anyway I was happy to go with the flow and it seemed as though Child was pretty open about some hard times. It focuses on her time living in Paris (1948-1956) and how it radically changed her life.

But what I really loved was how Julia Child really embraced her move to a new city. She really tried to live like a local. She worked hard at learning the language and the customs. It changed how she cooked, how she shopped and how she entertained and made friends. And obviously she built an enormously successful career out of this immersion.

Now, I’ll admit there are a few differences between us and our life circumstances but as I’ve been settling in to life in Melbourne I’ve really tried to emulate this attitude. It has been made much easier by having wonderful family here as well as a new church family. But I can't help feeling a bit torn. The struggle continues to be how to be conscious daily of my true home, my heavenly home while enjoying the blessings of life in such a wonderful city.

Anyway, I hope to post some reflections on life in a new city over the next little while.