I don’t want to write about Barbra Streisand.
For one thing, I can’t say anything that someone else hasn’t already said, probably in a more refined and knowledgeable way.
I don’t regularly listen to her music. But since listening to her audiobook, I’ve found myself curious enough to download The Second Barbra Streisand Album. I think because she started to say “What was I thinking?” in regards to the album cover. She said it wasn’t her best angle, but her hair looked great. I disagree. I think she looks beautiful.
I immediately played the song “Right As the Rain” while waiting for Gigi to pee. Not exactly a glamorous moment, but god, what a beautiful song.
Everything she shares about herself in this audiobook has me intrigued. I’m more familiar with her acting than her discography. When I was little, my mom was relentless with classic films. I don’t even know how old I was when I first saw Hello, Dolly! or Funny Girl… but I know I was young. Even then, I was entranced by her whole vibe.
She’s a powerful and enigmatic woman. What strikes me most is that she was a powerful and enigmatic young girl, too. She wasn’t intimidated by anything or anyone, and I’m in awe as I listen to her story unfold.
Early in the book, she describes a moment when kids surrounded her and teased her about her looks. I had a similar experience at age twelve. She said something like, “I couldn’t understand why they wanted to hurt me.” And my heart broke—just like it broke back then—remembering that feeling so vividly.
But those experiences didn’t shrink her or make her want to hide the way they did to me. That’s what fascinates me.
Last year around this time, for some reason I was drawn to her films in a way I couldn’t understand. I rewatched Funny Girl, then for the first time:The Owl and the Pussycat, On a Clear Day, and finally What’s Up, Doc?. I couldn’t get enough of her in the last one, or in Owl. I think I just loved seeing her as a woman who knew exactly what she wanted, even if she sometimes came across as foolish. I think it was the fact that her characters inherently knew how they were coming across, but they didn’t care.
I love that.
The roles she picks, I found out when listening to her book, she picks with intention. She has to see herself in them, or at least connect to something. I see myself in all of her roles, too. Not just as someone who can sing, or as someone with an interesting side profile, but as someone who pines for more.
I must’ve purchased the audiobook back when I was marathon-watching some of her films, but I didn’t start listening to it until this past week. It’s 48 hours long, but that doesn’t stop me from savoring every single minute of her storytelling.
She narrates her story like she’s sitting right there with you in the room. A true actress. I’m drawn to all the details she shares, and I’ve been surprised by moments of truly gorgeous writing.
The theme that resonates with me most is one she keeps coming back to: the power of thought and belief. It’s something my mom instilled in me at a very young age.
“You want something, Chrissy? Want it bad enough, and you’ll get it.”
I don’t know when I started abandoning that mindset and settling for whatever life handed me. I don’t regret it—I love my life as it is. But I also know there’s more that I want.
Listening to Barbra is reminding me of that.
(Daily Writing 009)
Thoughts?