Bette Midler is also on my pretend dinner guest list. (Now you´re just dying to know who the others are... Im gonna need a bigger table, that´s for sure...). I admire this woman for so many things, she´s done it all, the music, the movies, the words, the interviews, Broadway and the -making the world a better place-. The Divine Miss M starred in 2 of my all time favorite motion pictures: Scenes From A Mall and Big Business, and yes Ive probably seen Beaches about a hundred and twenty times. This woman can´t help but stand out, with that distinctive pitch and her incendiary curls, this is a born star...
But beating the drums at her own rhythm, that is the quality I most admire. How many people in the world (stars and other species) are doin´their own thing? Admit it, you know it and I know it, most people on this planet are followers. Im not objecting, just stating. It would be very chaotic if everyone decided to lead, we couldn't even dance tango! Personally I cant be like everybody else, Im a bit too rebellious to simply get in line. Ever since I was a child I wanted to do things differently from the rest, I didn't even like wearing the same clothes as my friends. I didn't strive to look or be different, I simply was. And that has only been reinforced as I got older and closer to myself, all this that we talk about self esteem and respect, the more you know yourself, you can make changes and become that individual that you love wholeheartedly. So in a way it goes hand in hand, the only way to be comfortable drawing your own path is really knowing yourself, strengths and weaknesses... and most importantly care 0.1% about what others think of you. That´s why I love Bette, she can be genuine and you can hear her screaming in all her performances, interviews and even on her website : "This is me in all of my splendor, take it or leave it". I wanna be Bette! Seriously take a look at her website, it´s to die for:
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| www.bettemidler.com |
Whenever I speak about Uniqueness, two very particular quotes come to mind. The first is Oscar Wilde´s famous 'Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.'. The second is one that I found in Marie Forleo´s twitter that says something like: "Comparison is creative kryptonite. Stay in your own game". Wow, thats some powerful stuff right there. I had a huge crisis when I came across this, I mean, how can you help but copy those you admire and have made such an impact in my life (in my case many writers, Ive been wanting to be the next Salinger for as long as I can remember). But whats interesting is that I never contemplated the idea that I could perhaps be better than Salinger... Now, hear me out for a minute, Im not saying that I am, if you wanna know the truth. What I mean is it seems as though we are terrified of putting something different out there, copying others is a bit like staying in our comfort zone (not that there´s anything wrong with that- for some). But what better way to contribute to the world than finding your own voice, in whatever you do. You're basically doing what you were born to do, your way, because there is no one else out there quite like you...
I personally have never met someone like me, with my life experience and my quirky ways of viewing the world. And I strongly believe that you don´t know what you're capable of until you access and open the master gates of your being and let loose a flood of ideas and spontaneity. The people I most admire in the world are those who make it their life´s work to separate themselves from the herd. The best teachers in the world are those who encourage you to think for yourself, create and make your own decisions, right? Perhaps you do need to be a bit of a rebel and maybe its not a place of easy access. But it it your natural state, it´s just about being honest with yourself which we all know it´s hard after we´ve grown up hearing things like: "Why can´t you be more like the Miller boy?" . So it´s not up to our parents and teachers, this is a decision that we need to make for ourselves. But when you let go of everything and you start being you, that´s when the magic happens. After all who can sing "Wind beneath my wings" better than Bette?
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