“We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.”~Marilyn Monroe
All the heat lately has led to some interesting "entertainment" at our house. Neither of us likes really hot weather, both of us wilt in it. Sunday I sat in the living room and watched old movies on TBS. Well, one old movie anyway... it was "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" with Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell (whose real names were Norma Jean Mortenson and Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell-- not quite the same ring!).
I remember Jane Russell as "The Full Figure Girl" that hawked Playtex bras on TV back in the early 80's. By then she was past her prime and reduced to selling underwear. In this movie, made in the mid 50's she was in her prime... a young, beautiful, very shapely brunette who could sing and dance well. Had she been the sole star of the movie, she would have had many fans for that performance. But she was paired with Marilyn Monroe, and when placed side-by-side with this Hollywood icon, she couldn't hold a candle.
I was struck with how gorgeous Marilyn was. Truly a great beauty. She too was shapely, and beautiful to look at, and could sing and dance fairly well (though not as well as Jane Russell!). But what set Marilyn Monroe apart from all the other Hollywood "bombshells" of that era is very hard to define.
One could say she exuded sex, and she did. One could say she was every man's fantasy, and I suppose she was. But even I can see there was something more to her... and I can't begin to describe what it was. We will have to settle on Marilyn's Mystique and leave it at that. But after watching her in this movie I got to thinking about it.
I am convinced there are people who have what the French refer to as "je ne sais quoi"-- that hard to define quality that sets them apart in some way. We all have talents and gifts... but some of us have them in excess, or perhaps have one talent in excess. The trick is figuring out what talents and abilities we possess and making the most of them. Marilyn Monroe clearly understood what talents she had and made the most of them! We all know people who are working in fields they are ill-equipped for, who struggle and just don't do well. I suspect these people don't really understand what their talents are. I remember a few young nurses who thought they loved nursing or who thought OB was the specialty for them, but they just couldn't meet the grade. Usually when they made a switch to something else they blossomed.
Maybe we all can't be Marilyn Monroes, but I suspect we all could do more with the talents we do possess. I am finding as a retiree that finding my next "thing" has been hard... there are lots of things I wish I could do, but I still haven't found anything that sets me apart, makes me feel unique or that I am giving of myself again. But the journey to find it is underway and I am having fun in the discovery.
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