I'm so tired of hearing the boo hoo stories of women over 50!! I said it before and I'll say it again. So what ... now what? Act 1 is done! Act 2 is new!! I Love it, I just made that up! I'm on a roll as I sit here at 2 a.m. to finish this blog! You know those nights when you just can't get to sleep. Your mind is racing. You've already had that glass of wine that usually works ... but NOT tonight!
Anyhoo, it's time to get up and figure it out. My friends say I'm too hard, but I say poppycock! I'm just being honest. Plus my attention span is that of a gnat so if you have a long drawn out "woe is me" story, you'll soon see my eyes glaze over as I slowly lose interest. See, I'm not here to commiserate with you, I'm here to help you get off your ass-sets and get back into life! I often say no one knows how to live better than show biz folk. And just because THEY don't know what to do with this 50+ Showgirl, doesn't mean I have to sit around on this still adorable booty and wait!
When I started out in theater at age 19 the world was an amazing place for this young showgirl! I had danced all my life, so my 5'4" frame was one big muscle. I looked very "exotic" and not "all American". I was even told by agents "we don't quite know where to put you". But I was blessed with getting my first Broadway show a year out of high school. I learned the ins and outs of the business and finally had my big break as a leading lady on Broadway in Smokey Joe's Café. That performance earned me my Tony Award nomination! But as the years went by the jobs became few and far between. It was quite devastating and I had to try to "re-invent" myself. When your life has been all about your looks and physical beauty, it's hard to make the transition. Everything becomes a personal comment on you as an actress and a woman. My life, dreams and goals changed. Not to mention my body! I had to ask myself some very hard questions and make a shift. I have NOT gotten all the answers but at least I'm becoming open to .... Whatever! I realize I can still make a difference. I'm still figuring things out and it's not easy. I take it one nanosecond at a time and try to keep one foot in front of the other.
So here's a question for you. What have you always wanted to do but kept putting off? Your Act 1 was great (or not). Good, bad or indifferent, now it's YOUR time.
For my Act 2, one of my goals is to become the new Eartha Kitt at the Hotel Carlyle in NYC and sing for an audience that knows how to live and enjoy old school classics. I would also like to re-open my gentlemen's grooming parlor, BBRAXTON, and make it the big success I know it can be, including a grooming academy for up-and-coming tonsorial specialists! There are books, Broadway shows and movies I'm going to write and star in! I'll have ANOTHER wonderful encounter with a young gentleman before I HAVE to settle ... or perhaps I won't "settle" but that's a whole other blog!
I woke up this morning to wonderful photos from my friend and fellow showgirl Babs, The Space Tamer. In her Act 2 de-cluttering business, she often ends up doing some heavy lifting and assembling. Needless to say, at 64 she gets off her ass-set and gets it DONE!!
Knowing the shifts I've had to make in my life and seeing Babs and other over-50 friends of mine making wonderful changes to their lives, made me start thinking how I might help other women. That's when I decided to launch my "Act 2 ... Now What? seminars."
The beauty of Act 2 ... Now What? is that you can start at any age. So why wait any longer? Don't let anyone talk you out of it, including yourself. Look forward to the possibilities. I know it's hard and some of us are dealing with menopause and those nasty little hormones (yes, that's a whole other blog too!) but it's easier when you have someone around who understands. Being a woman over 50 is NO JOKE! But what I've realized is that the only person who can get off their ass-set is the one who's SITTING ON HER ASS-SETS ... Okaaay?
This past week has truly been another layer to my Act 2. First, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Broadway show that garnered me a Tony Award Nomination, Smokey Joe's Café!
So we did a photo shoot to recreate my photo on the original Smokey Joe's Café Poster 
Then I launched my Act 2 ... Now What? seminar with a group of women over 50 who got off their ass-sets and took the first step into the Act 2 of THEIR lives, and it was wonderful!! My team of four amazing women took the seminar to great heights and we had a 94-year-young woman exploring HER Act 2!!
I even saw a friend I had performed with in CATS on Broadway!
We explored many exercises that will be in our three-day seminar (this was just our introductory seminar) and here's one to try on your own...
Pick a time (preferable in the evening) when you can sit with your favorite beverage (I prefer red wine). Take out a piece of paper and a PEN (harder to start erasing when it's in ink). Give yourself two minutes and write down EVERYTHING you've always wanted to do, have and be (thank you "The Secret"). Here's the important thing ... DO NOT EDIT ANYTHING YOU WRITE DOWN!! Then turn your paper face down like we used to do after a test in school and sip said favorite beverage for five minutes. Clear your mind of all the "why I can't do..." After five minutes turn your paper back over with this thought in mind ... "How can I make these dreams and goals come true?" and write them down. If you get stuck on one thing, leave it alone and go to the next. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT give up on that idea and start finding all the reasons you CAN'T have it. After you've gone through all of them, put them in a folder marked Act 2 ... Now What? Now go to bed!!
Do this every night for a week. But again with the intent of making your ideas, dreams and goals work. In the second week when you look at the list, you might find some things are realistic and some aren't. But at least you have a start!
Stay Fierce!
Brenda
www.bbraxtonac2.com
bbraxtonact2@aol.com
Earlier on Huff/Post50: