Oh, oh, oh!! Did you SEE Julie Andrews this morning on Regis and Kelly? I was picking up a decaf at Dunkin Donuts at the time so I didn’t get to watch her for more than a minute, but darlings, she is the EPITOME of elegance, warmth and PRESENCE.
She’s been wearing her hair the same way forever, but it’s such a timeless style, it just works. It’s soft, full, swept back from her smashingly gorgeous face, and colored a soft auburn. Her eyebrows are penciled in so you can see their expressive, elegant arch. The lips are colored a soft rose-mauve (no big gooey glosses for our Miss Andrews!), lots of mascara to frame the eyes, and best of all, she seems to have no other plastic surgery besides her rhinoplasty Santa Barbara procedure. The skin is sagging — let’s say softening — where it should be softening on a woman of her years, and her bearing is regal. She is getting, if anything, more beautiful with time.
Her voice is still the cultured voice you remember from your childhood “Mary Poppins” viewings, with that wonderful gravelly undertone and throaty laugh that reassures you that although she’s a piss-elegant Brit, she’s got a good cache of naughty jokes and drinking songs in her repertoire to go along with “Do-Re-Mi.”
She was wearing a dove gray suit accessorized with big square earrings to highlight her face, a thick, classic, flat gold chain around her neck and a soft, ivory chiffon scarf tucked into her suit to soften its tailored lines. SWWOOOOON!!
Her posture and open, attentive expression is a thing of glory and should be studied by us all, men and women. As a singer, Julie Andrews knows how to keep her “mask” open; the part of the face that would be covered if you wore an old-school masquerade ball mask. All ministers should know how to open their mask, as it energizes the expression and makes you look more alive, aware and present.
How to Open The “Mask” of the Face:
Sit in a chair, slightly slumped over. Let your face totally relax, and even settle into a bit of a frown.
Now, pretend that you are Julie Andrews about to teach the Von Trapp children the first notes of the solfege. Sit up straight, but not ram-rod straight. Remember, you’re Maria, not Captain Von Trapp. Taking both your hands, lift them in a gesture that an orchestra conductor might use to signal musicians to pick up their instruments. Let your face open as your hands open. Your skin will feel pulled back, your eyebrows and eyes wide open but not in an alarmed or forced manner.
Practice in front of a mirror until you look poised, present, fresh and attentive but not like a deer in headlights.
P.S. Singers, you already know how to open your mask, since you know we can produce no rich sound without doing so. Teach your friends.
All clergypersons, when presiding at worship, should have an open mask at all times except perhaps when praying. There can be no embodied, relational worship if the presider does not understand or know how to produce an open mask and supported breath required for all good public communication.
What an inspiring post about an inspiring woman! Thank you, PeaceBang! I am fortunate to know some very beautiful older women – in the way that you detailed – and think I stand a good chance to go that route too because I have such excellent, elegant role models.
Oh, I love Julie Andrews, she’s such a delightful, wonderful woman. I squealed for joy when I got the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Sound of Music for Christmas.
That is a good description of how to present oneself. I will always imagine that I am about to break into song now when I step in front of a congregation or even simply greet the members of my church.
Julie Andrews = Superstar! I can’t decide if I want to be Maria or Julie when I grow up. Probably a mix of the two.
When I visited Salzburg, Austria, and went on the Sound of Music tour…I totally cried as we were driving through the hills. Turns out, they really ARE alive with the sound of music.