I know! I keep talking about “women like us who are in their prime, in
our second act…”. So now it behooves me to define what this second act is,
and even whether or not we did the first act?
According to me, my ground zero act was ages 1-24 – what? I was
studying!
Then, followed my first act which was ages 25-40 – In this timeline, I
was earning my stripes and trying to look for the table that matched my
stripes. And then trying to convince those at that table that indeed my stripes
(professional qualifications) matched theirs and therefore deserved to be at
that table.
Some hubris at some tables had no table manners – they ignored me, left
me out of conversations, whilst some politely tolerated my presence. But as I
kept showing up at that table, insisting my stripes matched theirs, one or two
took curious interest in me and started asking me questions. And eventually one
day, I got an invitation to the table! I was finally accepted as one of them,
their colleague!
The second act is now this one – 40plus to 50plus. You still have your
stripes but they are fading. A woman whose presence at the table is no longer
questioned by those at the table, but is questioned by herself. Her
thoughts are, “Is this my table? Do I want to be at this table? Who said I
wanted a table anyway? How about being in the RIGHT room! I think I want a
platform!”
Second act is a conflicted act, between what we have achieved vs our
authenticity; between what we have done and what we want to do; between who we
have been vs who want to be, between how we are known vs how we know ourselves;
between how high we have risen vs how deep we want to go. Courage for authenticity
is our greatest tool and skill in our second act!
Third act is our 60plus - until heaven. In the third act you have no
stripes! You can fit anywhere, sit at any table and no one will question or
even ignore you! In fact they really want you to choose their table. “Because I
am on my last and third act, I want to devote myself to things that have been
important to me. First of all, because of my success, I have a voice.” – Diane
von Furstenberg
In the third act society allows you to be yourself. They don’t question
your language, your fashion preferences and are amazed by your intelligence and
wisdom –both! They say stuff like, “Wow! She is so smart you can’t even tell
she is in her seventies!” What they don’t understand is you were always this
smart, this wise, this intelligent! But in your first act, the stripes wouldn’t
let you be heard; in your second act, the fading stripes brought confusion and
doubt coz (see, I can coz in third act) they fitted at many tables; now in your
third act, without stripes, you are finally free to be seen and heard without
filters!
Progressive Q: Which act are you at and what is your current perplexity
about that act? Share with us here
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