Devotion Transforms Your Work

I just finished reading Julia Child’s book My Life in France. What a delightful book – I soaked it up in 4 days while on vacation. I highly recommend it.
Who wouldn’t adore Julia Child? This plucky American discovered a love for cooking whilst living in Paris and got so enamored of it she ended up devoting her life to teaching others about French food. She wrote several books, launched a popular TV show, and in short, changed the world of food.
All because she was in love with her subject.
It all sounds so easy and breezy when I write about it, but Julia worked her you-know-what off to write that first book. It took a good nine years to get Mastering the Art of French Cooking out.
Why?
Was she slouching around Europe with her husband, Paul?
Was she going back and forth and back and forth with her co-author?
Was she blowing off writing sessions to watch TV?
No. Well, yes to the first two. The last – TV – she barely even knew existed.
It took so long to write this book because Julia was so darn into what she was doing. She was ruthlessly methodical about getting every recipe, every description, every photo just right. Some might deride this level of fastidiousness. Just move on already!
But it was this level of love and commitment to excellence that made the book an instant bestseller. All those hours hunched over the stove and typewriter represented true devotion. Julia gave her all to the work, and when the cookbook came out, the world responded to her devotion.
This, I believe, is what makes great books. Not weekend workshops where you whip out a shaggy draft and call it a book. Not hacks that help you feel yore gaming the process. Not whips and chains and all the other things we associate with disciplining ourselves to DO THE WORK. 
It comes down to love. Pure, fiery love and commitment to the core of the thing. I felt this when writing my novel about Sylvia Beach. I respected her so much and was so enamored of her story, I was willing to do whatever it took to tell her (and my) story.
What about you? What are you devoted to enough to give it your all, and then some? Are you writing a book and wondering where you’re going to find the juice to get it over the finish line?
It doesn’t have to take a decade to write your book. But it will help to accept that it will take as long as it takes.
Maybe Julia inspires you like she does me. Maybe you have your own hero who leads you to do your best. To dig a little deeper and discover that you have an even better best inside you. Whatever it is, find the thing you love and devote yourself to it. Because this approach to creating may change the world, and it will definitely transform you.

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