Inspiration Archives - Page 8 of 36

Climbing Ecoute Over the Years

May 31, 2021

I sat quietly in the giant hand, the stone warmed by the sun, and listened to my heartbeat among the children shouting and laughing in different languages around me. I thought about the 20-year-old me who had been full of childlike wonder and adventure and enchanted by everything about Paris and living out my dream of visiting such a magnificent city. I thought about 28-year-old me climbing the hand with my soulmate and best friend, wrapping our arms around each other, feeling like we would be intertwined forever… one glorious treasured moment caught on camera. I didn’t know then that it wouldn’t last forever. And here I was, 50-year-old me, letting the hand gently hold me.

Dashing Divorcee Mae West

May 25, 2021

“Getting married is like trading in the adoration of many for the sarcasm of one.”
It’s easy to get married, but hard to stay that way.”
“Marriage is like a book. The whole story takes place between the covers.”
“It’s not the men in my life that count, it’s the life in my men.”
“He’s the kind of man a woman would have to marry to get rid of.”

Chez Josephine NYC and One of the Greatest Nights of my Life

May 21, 2021

Walking through the front door was like entering another world. Red velvet drapes trimmed with golden tassels, brick walls covered with images of Josephine Baker at the height of her dancing, the kind of warm lighting that makes even the most weary of us look beautiful… Josephine peers out from every wall, bananas on her hips, feathers arching above her, body joyfully moving, her pet cheetah with a diamond collar walking beside her, a smile promising mischief… Chez Josephine is everything I love about the 1920’s, divine decadence, giddy and glamorous, an invitation to leave your cares outside and surrender to this one gorgeous moment.

Grief Journey with Winged Victory, Paris, and a Group of Blind Children

May 19, 2021

Experts speculate which ancient battle Winged Victory was created for, but does it matter? We are all fighting our own battles in our own way every single day. The fact that we are here, out in the world, celebrating the majesty of the human spirit through art, creating our own art, walking through these treasured creations, letting their astonishing beauty wash over us, is a winged victory in itself. I wiped my tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand and walked on, with my shoulders rolled back and my dress rippling across my hips.

Dashing Divorcee Bette Davis!

May 12, 2021

This week’s Dashing Divorcee is Bette Davis! I adore Bette’s strength, courage, and fearless nature. Divorced three times and widowed once, Bette Davis managed to overcome her heartbreak and have a soaring career that spanned fifty years. She negotiated her own contracts and was the

Mozart and The Galloping Pianos of Salzburg

May 8, 2021

Now I can’t stop thinking of the wild pianos of Salzburg, and in my dreams, they gallop around the mountains, breathless and wild and glorious. If you catch one, you can sit down and make music like Mozart.

The Dancing Bear and The Miracles

May 2, 2021

When I first saw him, I thought I was hallucinating. I looked up and saw a twinkling bear dancing through the audience at the top of the Superdome. I blinked my eyes a few times, and decided, real or not, this bear was my kindred

Eartha Kitt: Dashing Divorcee

April 29, 2021

The last time I saw her in Hollywood at 78 years old, she belly danced, told inspirational stories, bantered with the audience, and sang her many, many hit songs. She was putting her handprints into a mold and the man told her she could write a quote if she wanted. She stuck one finger into the concrete and wrote, “To Thine Own Self Be True.” I have kept a framed photo of her as a young saucy singer next to my bed for three decades. Here’s to the broken-hearted who stand back up and run right back into the ring!

I Keep My Sorrow in a Box of Rain

April 25, 2021

I don’t want to hear about the gifts of pain and darkness, but it recently dawned on me that maybe the point of it all, and I’m not saying there is one, but if there was, perhaps it’s about finding our inner light no matter what life throws at us, a light so strong and bright that nothing can snuff it out. Maybe it doesn’t matter how brutal and agonizing the world can be. Maybe it’s about cultivating kindness in the face of cruelty; humility in the face of egotistical tyrants; compassion in world that tells you that only the strongest survive.

Dashing Divorcee Marilyn Monroe

April 21, 2021

This is about a woman who put on her lipstick and continued working on her art, even while going through her heartbreak. This is about a woman who made bold decisions in her life to reinvent herself over and over.

Category: Inspiration