Inspiration from Kathleen Turner

Today while I was driving, I heard a radio interview with Kathleen Turner.  Having tuned into th emiddle of the interview, how did I know  it was Kathleen Turner?  How could you NOT know it’s Kathleen Turner with that luscious, fan-flipping-tastic voice?!?!  🙂

Anyway, during the 15 minutes that I heard, she said two things that positively blew me away and got me SO inspired! I wanted to share them with you.  You can hear the whole interview here: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2011/12/07/stage-and-screen-star-kathleen-turner

On the subject of waiting to play the role Martha in the Edward Albee play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe:

That role always had a great deal of weight to me.  I read it first when I was in college, when I was about 20.  And I remember thinking vividly then, “Okay, when I’m 50, this is my role.”  So the years go by and when I turn 49, I think “Okay, I better get on with this.”

She then went on to describe the process of contacting Albee and asking him to re-stage the play so she could do the part.  Here’s what I find inspiring about this – she had a vision that she carried for THIRTY years.  She didn’t try to push for it to happen any sooner.  She didn’t try to force the subject.  She did her life and held the vision, and when it was ready, it manifested.  In the meantime, she took all the necessary steps so that when she was 50, she was in a position to open the door to her dream.  TOTALLY INSPIRING!

On the subject of getting older:

I’m happy to say that I don’t think my looks were ever the most compelling sense of self that I had.  Thankfully I think my confidence and sense of self were not based only on appearance.  I never considered myself a beautiful woman.  I thought of myself as a good-looking American woman.  I have a daughter who I think is beautiful in a way that I never have been and I probably never will be.  … Yeah, I looked pretty good and that’s not me anymore.  But on the other hand, oh, I still like myself very much.  I like who I am, I like the work I do.  If that’s the trade, I’ll take it.

Isn’t that a wonderful attitude and way to say it?  “I like who I am, I like the work I do.  If that’s the trade, I’ll take it.”  AMAZING!

And for the record, I think she was, is, and will continue to be a knockout…pictures below to prove my point.  🙂

Thank you Kathleen Turner and Tom Ashbrook for doing this interview that got me so excited and inspired today!

Kathleen Turner as a younger woman

Kathleen Turner this year