Start by writing the screenplay of your life.
My fellow Brit, Michael Caine, said, "To be a movie star, you have to
invent yourself." Cher and Madonna invented themselves. Cary Grant,
Burt Reynolds, and Michael Caine invented themselves. And I promise
you that Patricia Fripp has invented herself. You, in your own way,
invent yourself.
We all write the screenplay of our own lives. Then, as with every other
screenplay, you edit, you revise, you refine, and, sometimes, you just rip it
up and start over. As you do so, consider the valuable lessons that
Hollywood and the movie stars have to offer for the movie of your life.
When I was twelve, I remember being in my father's office, looking
at the Sunday newspapers and seeing a photo of a mink-clad movie star
getting off an airplane. There was a flash, a feeling, a vision. I just knew
that
one day I was going to have a glamorous life like that, full of travel,
getting
off planes, and wearing designer clothes. How this was going to happen I
had no idea because I certainly had no inclination toward being a movie
star. It took me a while to fill in the details in the screenplay of my life.
When I was twenty, I arrived in America with no job, no place to stay,
and no one to welcome me. But I knew two things about the USA.
Eeryone in America was rich, and the streets were paved with movie
stars. My first job in San Francisco was in the beauty salon of
the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. The hotel was owned by
cowboy star Gene Autry. Can you imagine the first day I saw him in the
coffee shop? My nose was glued against the window and it took three
security guards to drag me away.
Autry's first cousin, Arthur, was the hotel manager. Arthur was married to
actress named Pamela Britton, then appearing as Mrs. Brown
on the popular TV show "My Favorite Martian" with Bill Bixby and Ray
Walston. She was also in the cult film "If It's Tuesday, It Must be Belgium"
and on Broadway in the original Brigadoon. She used to tell me stories
about her experiences in show business while I did her hair. I just loved it,
put the rollers slowly so I could hear more tales.
As you create the rough outline of your life script, don't edit or limit
yourself. Don't worry about how you will actually bring it about. If you do,
you might get overwhelmed and talk yourself out of it or write something
less ambitious.
(536 words)
