Or: Have You Made Your Mark in the World?
Remember the old Cheers TV sitcom show where you walked in and everyone called out your name? (Noooorrrrmm!) The upside of that wonderful local bar is that you got to know everyone and it was a sense of community. The downside of that is that you went to the bar every night before going home.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if everyone knew you as a positive force in your neighborhood, and that you created a life where people will remember you for the good deeds you have done? Wouldn’t it be lovely if you made a difference in the world? Instead of retreating into a cocoon, go out and celebrate life to the fullest. Become the Barbie and create a world where both men and women have an impact!

It’s amazing that one of the most impactful creation on kids, especially girls, was the Barbie Doll and what she represented. She was an inspiration for every young girl from the 1950s on. She could be beautiful and smart, and with each year’s rollout, she grew up more and became a little wiser. Sure, she had lots of clothes and was a stereotypical buxom blonde in the 1950s and 1960s, but Mattel expanded with the times, creating Barbies of all colors, careers, clothing and lifestyles. Who wouldn’t love her? Of course it was all about selling toys and accessories to the company, but to young girls who aspired to be more than what men thought they should be, she became a role model.

Rhea Perlman, who played Carla on Cheers, had an awesome comeback in the movie Barbie. She was the CEO/creator of the Barbie world (the real life person was Ruth Handler, who grew up in Denver, Colorado). Ruth and her husband created Mattel. Barbie and Ken were named after their children.

“Handler was inspired to create Barbie after watching her daughter Barbara, the namesake of the doll, and her friends play with paper dolls. “I discovered something very important: They were using these dolls to project their dreams of their own futures as adult women.… Wouldn’t it be great if we could take that play pattern and three-dimensionalize it?” she recalled in her memoir.
https://people.com/all-about-ruth-handler-children-barbara-kenneth-7562635

At the end of the movie, Perlman revealed that she was the creator of Barbie. And she delivered best advice (the best line in the movie) to Barbie when she was having an existential crisis about where she fit in, what world she would live in, and if her life would end. Handler stated: “That was always the point, I created you so you wouldn’t have an ending.”

Now I think I have stated out loud that I was a big nerd and tomboy back in the day, and we couldn’t afford all the outfits. But our mother gave each of us girls a Barbie when we were pre-teens. Barbie changed our ideas about playing with dolls. She became our hero in so many imaginary worlds we created. We would take those legendary tales and become the people that we were supposed to be.

We all know that our lives will end someday, but we learn to embrace our potential every day that we live. We learn to be helpful to others and ask for help when we need it. We learn that not everyone will know our name, but we strive to be a part of each other’s lives in our community. So climb out your shell, embrace the Barbie and Ken in your lives, and be who you need to be, a positive force in nature. And who knows? Maybe everyone will know your name (In a good way, that is….)  Cheers Theme Song