The other day I met a woman who had heard about my art a day challenge and wanted to do something creative every day. She is not a self-proclaimed writer, and hadn’t really worked in any fine arts in years. “I spend every day taking care of family, and worrying about what to make them to eat,” she said.
So, I told her to take a photograph of the dinner she prepared for her family every day for a year. I’d heard from my friend that she was quite the home cook.
Culinary arts require much skill and practice. It combines math and science, and an appreciation for beauty. To have a successful experience, the food you prepare not only has to taste good but it has to look good, too. You do get better the more you practice, just like in painting and writing and other fine arts.
If this acquaintance ends up doing a visual food journal, it will change her life because it will change her way of thinking – she will learn, as I have, that once you account for your time, once you take ownership of it, your outlook on life will improve, your productivity will improve, you will get more done.
And I was reminded of a charming movie I saw last year, “Julie & Julia,” which combined Julia Child’s experiences of living in France and writing a cookbook, and Julie Powell’s experiences of making all of the dishes in that cookbook in a year’s time and blogging about it.
It did get me to thinking about what I’ve been eating for dinner, and maybe I should be keeping a food journal and taking photos on the days when dinner doesn’t come out of a box or a can. J
And this brief conversation ended with her saying she would like to start her project soon, and I really hope she does. What’s more, I hope I’m invited for dinner. J
Devi Laskar is a founding member of the Book Writing World. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, an M.A. in South Asian Studies from the University of Illinois, is a rabid Tar Heel basketball fan, is working on a couple of novels and is in her first week of the second year of her art-a-day challenge. Check it out on Facebook.