By: Gabriela Yareliz
I loved reading about when Sally Field went to Cannes, in her book In Pieces. She talks about how she was dating Burt Reynolds (yes, the Burt Reynolds) and was sort of lost in that relationship. She was invited to Cannes because a film she had starred in, Norma, had been accepted into the festival.
When she told Reynolds she was going to Cannes, he had a fit. He asked her “what the hell” she intended to do there. He then told her he was disappointed because he wanted to show her those places. He tried to bully and “seduce” her out of the trip, and then punctuated his attempt with, “You don’t expect to win anything, do you?”
Field gathered herself and decided to go anyway. Thank God she did. She won the Palme d’Or and went on to win every award for best actresss in the U.S., including the Academy Award. (pg. 364)
I am glad she went. She was glad she went. Sometimes, we get lost in life. Sometimes in jobs, routine, family, relationships, people-pleasing– whatever it may be. And suddenly, we aren’t living anymore. We stop taking risks and having adventures. It’s a sad way to live. I think we all got a taste of what that feels like when the pandemic shut down everything.
We are sometimes clinging to safety, or as Field was, sort of bullied by circumstance or people around us into not believing in the magic of life. We grow cynical, disappointed and trapped.
When I read that Reynolds told her that she shouldn’t expect to win anything, I was seething. We all have a Reynolds voice in our lives. Sometimes, it’s a person (and if so, get far away); sometimes, it’s our own voice in our head; and sometimes, it’s just life.
Take the risk. Have the adventure. You may find yourself with a Palme D’Or, figuratively speaking– meaning, you will have won.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 