You’re going to read the title of this & assume I’m giving you some new dynamic info about “business”.  Not so!

I needed a break!  So last evening, I settled in to ‘veg’ in front of TV.  Thinking that Sunday evening TV is pretty nauseating, I decided to see what was on the BBC channel, hoping to catch a re-run of “Last Choir Standing” with favorite singer, Russell as a judge.

What I did discover was a fabulous movie entitled “Calendar Girls” with Helen Mirren (Oscar for her role in “The Queen”) and a bevy of delightful ‘chronologically maturing women’.  As I switched back & forth between the BBC & “Dateline”, I became increasingly more intrigued with the “Calendar Girls”.

The story line was based on the true story of 12 women in the Yorkshire area of England who produced a ‘calendar’ that to date has raised over 500,000 pound or well over $1,000,000 US dollars.  The money has funded Leukemia research and support projects world wide, as well as funded a sofa for an English hospital where one of the women’s husband died.  It was his death that initially led to the highly creative “calendar” project!

You may remember the “calendar”.  It became newsworthy in the states & I recall seeing a photograph of the 12 on internet news.

Quick synopsis: Chris (played by H. Mirren) found a playboy-type magazine under her son’s bedroom rug.  She then saw a pinup calendar (remember when we called them “pinups”?) in a bicycle repair garage & asked to borrow it.  Chris wanted to help her best friend whose husband had died of cancer, raise enough funds to buy a sofa for the hospital - that was it!  

Her creative idea? 

A semi-nude calendar featuring 11 of her best friends from a ‘crusty & prudish’ women’s organization throughout England (perhaps the entirety of Europe).  The film follows their story through to the success the “calendar” gained as word spread across the continent & the pond. 

Humorous to say the least!

I delighted in how their creative efforts (and courage I might add) told the world that beauty is not just to be found with young, slender, voluptious women.  The “Calendar Girls” gave dignity (albeit of a somewhat racy kind) and credibility to ‘chronolgically maturing women’ whose figures may not be what they used to be and whose determination to make a difference gave them the courage to ‘bare’ their ‘bods’ (quite decently I might add) to make it happen!  The unusualness of the ‘calendar’ made it a huge hit - even in the states!

I’m not suggesting any of us do such a daring thing!  After all, it’s already been done!  But I am suggesting that the courage of these 12 turned the spotlight on the beauty, integrity and value of women who’ve passed the “middle mark.”

It was a “gamey” idea to use a British term.  It was risky to say the least and required considerable ‘moxxy’ on the part of the women.  They risked relationships with family & long-term friends, as well as considerable ridicule. 

What they gained was not only huge amounts of charitable $$$s, but a sense of their own worth, self-esteem and confidence they didn’t have before.

Well, I don’t think any of us need to go to quite the ‘extreme’, as some might call Chris’ creative idea.  But I do think it is a lesson for us who are ‘chronologically maturing’ & traveling the 2nd half of the journey!  That where we are on the chrono-scale has nothing to do with what we can accomplish.

And that growth in confidence, self esteem, personal & professional success may only come when we are willing to take a risk.  A risk that other’s might consider ludicrous at best and foolish at least.

So if you can find a copy of “Calendar Girls”, rent it and enjoy!  And let it speak to the dreams & visions in your soul that await your decision to “take a risk” to let that “creative biz concept”. . .  

out of it’s hiding place!

Have an awesome day with no fears to choke your path!

Linda, a fellow journeyer