In a recent post, Tiffany Yates Martin examines success and what it means for each of us.
She shares the story of Betty Gordon, an actress and entrepreneur who never achieved success as measured in finance or fame, but who spent her entire life engaged in work she loved. Gordon enjoyed a long career as an actress in regional theater, then opened a bar that catered to and provided jobs for the next generation of creatives. Gordon was also well known as a friend and mentor for young actors and artists, providing introductions and opportunities they might never have accessed otherwise. During the pandemic lockdowns, Gordon engaged an artist friend to help her create her first children’s book, which she published at the age of 93.
“One of the things I love about Betty’s story is how inextricably woven her creativity and creative community are in her life,” Yates Martin says. “They are the fabric of her life—not a separate compartment that she works to find time for, but an intrinsic part of her.”
Does Gordon’s life sound “successful” to you? She never got rich or famous. At 93, she’s no longer able to work and has no children to care for her. And yet, she lived her life entirely on her own terms, never far from creative work or community. “She experienced life without boundaries, filling it with rich experiences and colorful people,” Yates Martin writes. “She pursued what she loved, acting in plum roles in respected theaters. She surrounded herself with fellow artists who nourished her creative soul and they became a chosen family, and she’s still surrounded by this close-knit group today.”
We should all be so successful.
