Julia Child Followed a Spark of Curiosity. What If You Did, Too?
One of America's most beloved chefs found her purpose at 36, not by starting over, but by getting curious and starting small. This is what sustainable change really looks like.
We’re sold this idea that life change — especially midlife change — has to be seismic. Quit the job. Move countries. Start over.
And if you want a change in your 40s or 50s, we’re told it must be a crisis. It’s a sign something’s gone terribly off course.
I don’t buy it. In fact, I think that pull in a new direction is often the clearest sign you’re finally listening to yourself.
Right On Time is our weekly series of lessons in courage, clarity, and change for those rewriting their story — in two minutes or less.
Listen, we don’t live in a world of tidy, linear lives anymore. The 40-year career with the gold watch and guaranteed pension… that story is over.
The rules have changed, and thank goodness, because so have we. We’re living longer. We’re more mobile. Our world is more connected than ever. We’re staying curious, and we’re reinventing what the so-called “middle” of life can look like.
You don’t need a breakdown to want something different. You don’t have to justify your desire for a new chapter.
Real, meaningful change often starts with one small spark. One door you’ve secretly wanted to open for a while now — and finally do.
ICYMI:
Long before “reinvention” was a buzzword, Julia Child was already doing it without making it a spectacle.
Julia was 36 when she enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu.
She wasn’t “reinventing” herself. She hadn’t burned her old life to the ground. She wasn’t even sure what came next — only that she was curious.
She and her husband Paul had moved to Paris for his diplomatic post. Julia didn’t speak the language. She didn’t have a career of her own. She’d worked in secret government offices during the war, but mostly lived in the shadow of Paul’s postings.
She took a cooking class because she liked to eat. That’s it.
From there, she found joy, challenge, and purpose. She met collaborators. She got rejected. She tried again. Her first cookbook took nearly a decade to publish.
And somewhere along the way, a curious expat in her late 30s became one of the most recognizable figures in food media.
Julia didn’t blow up her life. She just said yes to opening the next door.
I find that comforting. Because most of us aren’t trying to detonate our whole story… we just want something truer than what we’ve got.
Take the next few minutes for yourself for this reflection. Work through it in a journal, if you’d like.
10-Minute Reflection: Opening the Door
Find a quiet spot, set a timer, and follow this thread wherever it takes you. Stay curious, and don’t edit yourself.
Is there something you’ve been quietly drawn to — a class, skill, idea, or hobby — that you haven’t made space for yet?
What’s stopped you from opening that door? (Time, fear, perfectionism, old stories about who you’re “supposed” to be?)
What would it look like to explore it gently — not as reinvention, but as a small experiment?
If you let yourself follow this interest for no reason other than it lights you up… what might shift?
You don’t need a five-year plan. Just open one door.
✌🏻 Miranda
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Love this. And can relate as I’m sitting in my own spark of curiosity.