©THE LESSON I LEARNED FROM QUEEN ELIZABETH II

By Linda Lee Greene, January 14, 2019

A revelation came over me while I binge watched NETFLIX this past weekend in an effort to force myself to stay home and nurse an almost-cold. The majority of the time, I watched all of season one of THE CROWN. It is a take on Great Britain’s Royal Family and other luminaries whom rubbed elbows with it during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century. At the center of the show is Queen Elizabeth II. In my estimation, it is excellent entertainment—great writing, superb cinematography, and outstanding performances, despite my hunch that rumor and speculation is elevated to Gospel Truth in it—although it might be just that, as far as I know. The thing about it that struck me most forcefully, however, is the portrayal of the queen’s struggle to separate the personal Elizabeth from the figure-head who wears the crown, referred to throughout the series as “The Crown,” an entity unto itself answerable ultimately only to God, a living thing that takes precedence over all else. Oh, how I relate to Elizabeth’s struggle, and boy, did I learn an invaluable lesson from her this weekend.

Like me and so many women of her and also of my generation, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Mountbatten Windsor is described as an introvert in her true nature, a person who prefers to keep away from the limelight, who would have been perfectly content to be a wife and mother, and to live modestly and privately. But also like me and so many of my soul sisters in the arts, in business, in politics, in the clergy, and other areas, she had a calling, a destiny far bigger, more insistent, and more essential than her private self and its inclinations. No one else could do what she was called to do. I am of the opinion that not a day goes by that her job is not agonizingly difficult for her, that if permitted, she would choose to cavort with her horses and dogs, to read fine literature instead of government papers, to watch good British TV and films, and to show up at cultural events openly as an ordinary person. But she shows up at her job, more consistently and persistently, than any other British sovereign ever has done. “Why?” I asked myself. “Why, when her job has impacted so negatively on her family, and even threatened her marriage and her own soul, didn’t she throw in the towel like her paternal uncle did?”

I think she discovered a secret—well, not a secret exactly because countless others have discovered it since the beginning of time, and several of them were her tutors in that regard: her father King George VI, and Winston Churchill among them. The riddle I think she solved was that the crown is only a representation…it is not the true Elizabeth. The time she puts into it, the promotions she does on its behalf, take nothing away from her essential self. This shy person, who dislikes talking about herself, is not marketing herself. She is marketing the crown.

I caught onto the riddle this weekend, too, finally. Queen Elizabeth II taught me. She opened the dreaded box for me in which I stuff my battle with myself over promoting my work: my art, and especially my books. She showed me how to get over my fear that nobody really wants to know about my work, and how to stop worrying about coming across as a pushy salesperson. One of my fellow authors confided to me recently that promoting her books makes her feel like a politician. I get it, because that was me, too. Through the queen’s example, I figured out that my work is a living and breathing entity beyond myself that deserves its own life—not unlike that of the crown she wears. While my work is influenced by what I bring to it, and is channeled through me, it is not the real me. Nobody is going to view my paintings or read my books and through them catch me naked in my shower or sitting on my toilet. My work is not an invitation to invade my privacy or corrupt my soul. It is a painting…a book, and it is my job, and can only be my job, to wear my artist and author crowns with the confidence that they are my soul’s sacred callings, and cannot be prisoners of my touchy ego’s preferences. What happens to them once I put them out in the public eye is God’s choice, not mine.

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Columbus, Oho, USA, and multi-award-winning author, Linda Lee Greene has authored and published four books. All of them are available worldwide in eBook and soft cover at online booksellers. Her latest novel, CRADLE OF THE SERPENT was designated as a finalist in the 2018 American Fiction Awards Competition. It was also awarded a 5 Star Review by Readers’ Favorites. In addition, she was the recipient of the 2018 Peter Hills Writing Competition for her winning short story, ELLA’S EDEN. Scheduled for release in early 2019 is her novel, A CHANCE AT THE MOON. It will be available in soft cover and eBook at Amazon.com and other online booksellers. An extensive exhibition of Greene’s artwork can be viewed at www.gallery-llgreene.com.