Billie Jean
I finally have something worth writing about. Last night I attended a lecture given by Billie Jean King at Orchestral Hall in Minneapolis. Her lecture is one of five give over five months of women coming in to talk about their lives. Last month was Brooke Shields who was also very inspiring, but in a different way than moved me last night.
I should preface this by saying that by the time I zeroed in on tennis as a sport with ‘sporty-girls’, her career as a top professional was over. So my perception of her was rather murky as I knew details, but didn’t really appreciate her. In fact, I down right ignored her as significant. A couple of weeks ago she appeared on Showtimes, The L Word and in my honest opinion I didn’t think that show highlighted her talents. That is to say, she probably shouldn’t act. I mean that in a nice way though.
So, I come to find out quite a bit more about just what she did for women in sports and women in general - and if you are all interested, you should probably read up about her because I’m not posting to tell you about her life story. As inspiring as it is, only Billie Jean can do it justice in her funny ad lib way she has when she tells her story. To my knowledge, she hasn’t written an auto-biography, but she should.
Her message though resonated in me. Maybe because lately (oh the past 2-3 years) I’ve just been generally dissatisfied with what I do during the bulk of my waking hours. Oh, I like my job and benefits well enough - but I’ve felt that it just doesn’t showcase MY talents. Not having the self-esteem or guts to strike out on my own however, I’ve managed to get stuck in a very deep rut.
Billie Jean had a couple of very powerful ideas by which she lives her life. Personal responsibility and leaving a legacy. Not legacy in that she wants people to remember her for anything in particular, but legacy in that she leaves this life better than she found it.
She peppered her speech with famous quotes she likes, people that inspire her, Minnesota people (famous or not) that she admires. Outstanding person - she has been in a relationship for 27 years and did talk about her outing and shame being a lesbian. But I think the most stunning thing, when asked what her most proud achievement has been - accepting herself. Of all the work she did to bring equality to professional sports (still working on it) and Title IX, to name just a couple she is most proud of that. I can relate to that, as I feel very similar. In my twenties I broke out of a major depression, came out as a gay woman and survived. I am still very proud of myself for that - and proud of my friends and family.
At the end of the lecture, she took a basket full of tennis balls and hit them around Orchestra Hall. I bet that’s the first time that has ever happened. She saw me making a fool of myself though up in Tier 2 and tried to hit one to me, but it caromed off one of those acoustic things and the woman in the row in front of me got it. Grrrr. I think they were signed too.
I should preface this by saying that by the time I zeroed in on tennis as a sport with ‘sporty-girls’, her career as a top professional was over. So my perception of her was rather murky as I knew details, but didn’t really appreciate her. In fact, I down right ignored her as significant. A couple of weeks ago she appeared on Showtimes, The L Word and in my honest opinion I didn’t think that show highlighted her talents. That is to say, she probably shouldn’t act. I mean that in a nice way though.
So, I come to find out quite a bit more about just what she did for women in sports and women in general - and if you are all interested, you should probably read up about her because I’m not posting to tell you about her life story. As inspiring as it is, only Billie Jean can do it justice in her funny ad lib way she has when she tells her story. To my knowledge, she hasn’t written an auto-biography, but she should.
Her message though resonated in me. Maybe because lately (oh the past 2-3 years) I’ve just been generally dissatisfied with what I do during the bulk of my waking hours. Oh, I like my job and benefits well enough - but I’ve felt that it just doesn’t showcase MY talents. Not having the self-esteem or guts to strike out on my own however, I’ve managed to get stuck in a very deep rut.
Billie Jean had a couple of very powerful ideas by which she lives her life. Personal responsibility and leaving a legacy. Not legacy in that she wants people to remember her for anything in particular, but legacy in that she leaves this life better than she found it.
She peppered her speech with famous quotes she likes, people that inspire her, Minnesota people (famous or not) that she admires. Outstanding person - she has been in a relationship for 27 years and did talk about her outing and shame being a lesbian. But I think the most stunning thing, when asked what her most proud achievement has been - accepting herself. Of all the work she did to bring equality to professional sports (still working on it) and Title IX, to name just a couple she is most proud of that. I can relate to that, as I feel very similar. In my twenties I broke out of a major depression, came out as a gay woman and survived. I am still very proud of myself for that - and proud of my friends and family.
At the end of the lecture, she took a basket full of tennis balls and hit them around Orchestra Hall. I bet that’s the first time that has ever happened. She saw me making a fool of myself though up in Tier 2 and tried to hit one to me, but it caromed off one of those acoustic things and the woman in the row in front of me got it. Grrrr. I think they were signed too.