I was on a long flight to Israel trying to find a movie to watch on the plane when the Glenn Close movie, The Wife, got my attention.

The Wife is one of those movies that makes you think. The story is about a woman reflecting on her life and marriage while accompanying her husband on his trip to accept the Nobel Prize in Literature. It takes a while until you realize that the woman is a long- suffering spouse with years of pain triggered by her husband’s prize.

Normally, I help women step out of playing the victim role and shift to a more empowering place. If you are familiar with the Beacons of Change philosophy, you know that I believe in your ability to accept responsibility to move your life forward.

You would expect the woman in crisis in the movie to come across as a victim. Instead, you observe a remarkable woman who is not passive. She’s strong. She’s clever. She’s grounded. She’s poised. You realize that there’s so much more to her than victimhood.

Food for thought: Can we drop into victim mode and stay strong in our power at the same time?

Glenn Close won the best actress Golden Globes Award for her role in The Wife.

If you watch her acceptance speech, you’ll see that there was not a dry eye in the audience.

The part of her speech that moved me the most was the following:

“You know, it was called The Wife. I think that’s why it took 14 years to get made. To play a character who is so internal—I’m thinking of my mom who really sublimated herself to my father her whole life.

“And in her 80s she said to me, ‘I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything.’ And it was so not right. And I feel like what I’ve learned from this whole experience is, women, we’re nurturers. That’s what’s expected of us.

“We have our children, we have our husbands if we’re lucky enough, and our partners. But we have to find personal fulfillment. We have to follow our dreams. We have to say, ‘I can do that, and I should be allowed to do that.’”

I had an AHA moment while watching the speech, when I realized that it was Close’s personality, dignity, and style that made the wife in the movie so authentic.

As I watched the character making herself visible and invisible through years of marriage, it made me think about times where I was more and less visible in my marriage and in my life.

What about you, beacon?

How visible or invisible are you in your life right now?

What is silencing you?

What is holding you back from reaching your potential?

You. Me. Us as women. We have to find personal fulfillment, like Close said.

We have to follow our dreams.

We have to say, “I can do that, and I should be allowed to do that.”

It is my mission to help women to be visible. Feel fulfilled. Walk with purpose.

In this 2-minute Beacons of Change manifesto video, you’ll get a clear understanding of my message, and you’ll know if you are meant to join me on this mission.

If you are meant to be visible, to live, love, and lead at full power, let me know.

I would be honored for you to join me.