To bide one's time means to wait patiently for an opportunity.
That is the phrase that came to mind after I saw the movie Julie & Julia.
Meryl Streep, who is one of my favorite actresses, plays Julia Child. Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a woman who writes a blog about the year she spent cooking Julia Child's recipes.
Their performances were wonderful. The movie is warm and funny, and it got me thinking...
about how one bides their time. Julia Child went to cooking school because she wanted something to do while her husband was working at the American embassy in Paris. Julie Powell started a blog because she was unhappy in her day job.
These women started out biding their time. They ended up doing so much more.
Julia Child had no way of knowing that cooking classes would lead to worldwide notoriety as a first-class chef. She loved to eat and through cooking found her vocation.
Julie Powell felt that her life was stalled. She wanted to do something different and interesting. She had no way of knowing she would gain a following, write a book, and be the subject of a movie.
The movie got me thinking about what I can do while I am biding my time. What do I like to do? What am I good at? Will this work if I think about what it might lead to, or do I need to throw caution to the wind and follow my passion? What is my passion?
No ideas yet. I will keep thinking....
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6 comments:
Me too..."No ideas yet. I will keep thinking."
Your post reminds me of the John Lennon line, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Here's to fruitful biding of time ... (and glad to hear the movie was enjoyable ... it's on my to-see list ...)
Calm abiding it's called in Buddhist terms. Patiently waiting for the good to come. Oh, how impatient we are, especially those of us that are Americans! I bow to you for seeing the value in waiting. Tis true, patience is a virtue and good things do come to those who wait. Sappy, but something I believe...
Love the way you pulled that message from the movie -- it's not something that hit me until you wrote about it here. (I was too busy drooling over the food!) But it's true. Both of those women were at a turning point in their lives, searching for their passion (or how to weave it into gold). Truly an inspiration, wasn't it?
Sharon, I was thinking of the same quotation from John Lennon that Elaine mentioned. I think that sometimes, we stumble into what we want to do while we're "biding our time." I think some of us get where we're going directly, and others find where they belong indirectly.
This reminds me of a story from a State of Michigan Historical Marker near where our family had been camping last week. We were camping near the Lake Huron shore (near the index finger tip of Michigan's lower peninsula). That area is home to many shipwrecks. Anyway, in t he 1800s, one of the bigwigs of the area decided to make his home in that area after his boat shipwrecked there. I guess he figured God gave him a sign.
Just catching up on your posts! Perhaps the bottom bit of the August 10 post hints at what you're wanting to do? (what's the good stuff you refer to...standing at the edges of?) I don't think delving into that would at all be giving up or surrendering, more of a pivot in a new direction?
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