The inspiration for this article grew out of an evening of watching the A&E Television Network. I have enjoyed watching their landmark series "Biography" for several years and after a minute or so of serious channel surfing, I decided to see what was on this particular evening. The life and times of actor Adam West, who is best remembered for his role as the tv Batman, was featured. Afterwards, a show called "Child Stars: Their Story" followed. Both of them were not only thought-provoking but were related in theme, whether by design or coincidence. By the way, the title for this article comes from a comment Adam West made on Biography about stepping out of the cape and cowl (Batman's cape and mask), meaning to step out of character or role.

      The gist of both stories was that the actors played certain roles, they became identified by those roles, and something changed in their work that suddenly made then undesirable (series "ran its course" and was cancelled, the kids grew up and were too old to play the character, etc.). Because of this, they were not able to work and enjoy the fame/money they once had. Many were so closely identified with their character, they could not obtain work in other series or films because when fans saw them they saw Batman, Danny Partridge, etc. This created a devastating effect on their personal and social lives. The expectations and the feelings of failure by the actors and the rejection of those around them drove some of the former stars to drug abuse, suicide, homelessness, and so on. Most had made a huge amount of money while working but came to find that their fortunes had disappeared due to thievery or mismanagement by their family or agents.

      Now, not many of us are in the entertainment business but we all have roles that we play in life. In fact, each one of us usually has many roles that we exhibit every day. You may be a parent, a student, a Christian, a steelworker, a son, an American, and more all wrapped into one package but most people are usually identified by their primary role. Depending on your or someone else's decision, you may think more of yourself as a Christian than anything else, while another with similar roles may consider themself to be a parent first. So, the next question to consider is what would happen if you, like the actors above, lost your primary role? Yesterday you were Batman, or a successful parent, and today you are not. How would it effect you? What would your family think of you? Could you "pick up the pieces" and move on?

      Many years ago, I worked with people who were disabled and receiving public assistance. My job was to encourage them to work toward independence by overcoming their hardships and returning to work or training. At that time, many men in southern West Virginia worked in the coal mines. That was their primary role and it became an extension of who they were. Because coal mining had a very strong culture tied to it, the obvious concerns about loss of income, shelter, food, etc. were woven together powerfully with a lot of sub-issues such as the provider of income being the head of the family, their job being the center of social activities, a history within that family of the men working in the mines, the influence of their union and the feelings of brotherhood, and so on. What further complicated the problems was that many of these men also enjoyed physical activities, such as hunting, fishing, carpentry, and auto repair to relax and relieve stress. When injury or illness prevented them from working, it also "took out" the above items as well. Therefore, the loss of their primary role had a far-reaching implications for these men and their families.

      I think that the above examples show the serious impact of leaning too heavily on one primary role in life. We will probably always have at least one "profile" that identifies us to the rest of the world but we need to assure that we don't put "all of our eggs in one basket" and cultivate other roles as back-ups in case of a serious life change (job loss, disability, retirement, divorce, etc.) and to enhance our primary role.

      There are several ways to do this and they all center around you taking the iniative to discover/explore new things that you ENJOY doing and others that you are GOOD at doing. These are not necessarily one and the same. To start this process, you need to develop these two separate lists. After you have identified these items, find out more about them if you are not already familiar with what each item includes. For example, if you are 50 years old, weigh 300 pounds, and hate to exercise, pinning your hopes on becoming a professional bodybuilder is probably not a good choice. Therefore, if you are thinking in terms of a career choice, your final selections should be realistic. The next step is to actually become involved in the activities to see if what you learned about them matches the feel you have when you are actually doing them. Many years ago, I had a friend who was in his thirties but was already planning for retirement by trying out new hobbies...he did not discard any possibility until he had "tried it on for size".

      Since I started this article with the entertainment industry let me end it with an example of someone who successfully re-invented themselves. There are many good examples of this within show buisness but I recently saw the broadway production of Peter Pan on A&E. So, the star of that production, Cathy Rigby, is fresh in my mind. Ms. Rigby first became known to the general public through her participation in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics as a gymnast. She had devoted most of her youth training for these performances and her first appearance as a pigtailed, 15-year old impressed all who saw her. However, most were not aware of her premature birth, sickly youth, severe shyness, and problems caused by an alcoholic father. Additionally, as she aged, her movements slowed and her body matured. This led to weight gains and suggestions from her coach to lose weight. She became anorexic and bulimic, was hospitalized twice, and nearly died. Because of these problems, she retired from gymnastics, then married, had two children, and became a commentator for ABC sports. However, the problems continued which resulted in divorce and her seeking medical treatment. Shortly thereafter, she began the re-inventing process by taking acting, voice, and ballet lessons and curing her illness. Since that time she has received praise and awards for her performances on stage. Additionally, she has become a motivational speaker, a spokesperson for commercial products, a volunteer for charity causes, and was chosen as Mother-of-the-Year (she now has 4 children). She was able to overcome difficult times, the loss of her primary role as an athelete, and re-shape her life and career. About her journey, she says that she was able to make changes when she "started to focus on other things that I wanted in my life, not just something that I thought would please somebody else." The most difficult thing to learn is "to reach your own goals, your own gold medals of achievement."

     Depending on age, energy, education, life experiences, support systems, race, sex, and cultural beliefs, the person may be able to bounce back and "re-invent themself" without much difficulty. For others, the way may be so difficult, that it is never achieved. As mentioned above, the most important factor is the willingness to let the old role go, explore new avenues to re-define what we want to become and the courage to pursue them.