“You can’t be afraid to say your own name in the same breath as legends.”
We were in a crowd of people at a party when she said that to me, and something about it struck me.
What makes a “legend”?
What makes us “legendary”?
I looked to some of my ghostly screen mothers for advice and they delivered:
From Marlene Dietrich: Stand Up Tall, Glide Walk and Don’t Be Afraid to Take Up Room to OWN it.
From Lauren Bacall: Look Them In The Eye and Say It Slowly and Confidently.
From Rita Hayworth: You Have The Power To Turn Everything Around.
And do you know what all of these 3 legendary femme fatales have in common?
In interviews later on, while talking about the scenes or films they were doing, they all used one word in common to describe how they felt going into it:
Terrified.
In fact, Dietrich talked about being terrified before shoots, but “faked” keeping calm until something else took over and she became calm and confident. There was a ‘click’ where her confidence would kick in eventually.
Watching them on screen – they seem like they’ve never been afraid of anything in their lives.
One week from now, I will be embarking on the biggest dream of my life, making our cross-country road trip, Revolver.
I am excited and
I am terrified.
At least I have that in common with the legendary femme fatales.
But in the end,
I know that what would be more terrifying
is not doing my dream at all.
Fuck the fear.
And I call the lively spirits of these bad ass women to swirl around me
as I hurl my body into the unknown of my greatest dream.
BRING IT.
What is something you want to push yourself to do that’s terrifying?
Let’s live wild together.
