I love Glee, as many of you know. The music rocks, the characters are brilliantly diverse and I cry nearly every episode due to the reality and deft handling of the themes. There are so many characters I love and have grown to love: Brittany, Sue Sylvester, Mike Chang, Puck, Zize, Kurt, his dad Burt, and so on. Every episode brings a new “I love him/her” comment. Since she showed up last season, I’ve been in love with Coach Bieste most of all. Played by Dot Jones, who has been acting for 20 years, she could be a one note character and yet she has great depth. A female football coach she is tough on her players.
“Alright boys, pizza party – dig in. Everyone gets four slices, let’s go! And when you’re done, full pads out on the field. We’re doing wind sprints. First ten to puke are off the team.”
As a woman, she is soft, cries easily and longs for love.
Beiste: You really think I’m pretty Will?
Will: Inside and out.
Dot plays her with no pretense. She delivers one of the most natural performances I’ve seen in a good long time. Last
night’s show featured a football recruiter who has been interested in her for a long time. Having never been in a relationship, Shannon Bieste didn’t catch the signals he was giving even though she was interested in him as well. When he finally came right out and said he wanted to date her, she coudn’t/wouldn’t believe it. The moment she told him that he could have any beautiful woman he wanted so why would he want her, her face flushed and a tear rolled down her cheek. I could see in her face that this is something she has believed and felt herself and she didn’t hide it behind the mask of her character.
Bieste is a good friend, a supportive mentor and a real person. I love her because I get her. I may not be a beefy woman in a man’s profession, but I still get the feelings of being unattractive and unwanted by the opposite sex. When I had my first boyfriend at 19 I made a very bad choice and almost married that bad choice as I thought I would never find anything better. Thank goodness I came to enough of my senses to know even if I didn’t find anyone else, I would be less miserable than I would be with him.
Despite appearances on the outside, we all have our insecurities. It’s so easy to look at others and assume they have things all together and so much better than we do. The fact is, when we dig down, we all have times when we feel insecure, down, incomplete, incompetent, unworthy, incapable.
Today on Q on CBC radio, Sarah Slean spoke about how she goes through many times of feeling like she isn’t living up to her dreams. And she’s a very successful singer. Looking at her from the outside, a struggling artist might be jealous and think she’s got it all together, but she’s human like the rest of us!
I often look at other speakers or other people in business and think that they’re doing so much better than I am, so they must know so much more, have better luck, be better liked and so on goes my brain. On the other hand I know there are those out there who think the same of me (because they’ve told me).
We all struggle. Give yourself a break!
- Recognize that any struggles are temporary.
- Know that if you really got to know your heroes or those you are jealous of, you’d discover they all have their moments of doubt as well.
- Make a habit of noticing your abundance – everything from the clothes in your closet to your friends to your talents.
- Focus on your strengths – yes, you have many!
- Celebrate your successes – no matter how tiny they may seem today.
- You are incredible and unique. Express your uniqueness and own it.
- Be willing to be honest about your struggles. Your honesty will help others overcome theirs.
We are all beautiful when we allow ourselves to be everything we are – including our struggles. Are you ready to be fully you in all your joy and sorrow? Are you ready to inspire others to do the same simply by your transparency and honesty?
You are amazing and beautiful just as you are; no changes required – every piece of you, joy and pain!
Give us a big smile and let out the Coach Bieste in you.
Be Beautiful, Be YOU!
Hugs, Christie