I love Madonna. I love all the Madonnas.

The tough little Michigan girl transplanted to New York who wore black eyeliner, countless rubber bangle bracelets, leather, lace, and sometimes a big, puffy white wedding dress.

The sultry, ballad-singing, wanna-be-taken-seriously singer/actress who was briefly married to Sean Penn.

The heathen rabble-rouser whose “Like a Prayer” was condemned by the Vatican.
The whip-cracking dominatrix who seemed determined to expose every inch of herself by whatever means necessary.

Evita… Music mogul…

It all becomes a blur.

Electronica creator… Lourdes’ mom and children’s book author… Madge… Guy Richie’s wife and Rocco’s mom… And now 50-plus rock-hard cougar dating a much-younger professional athlete.

She is all of these people in all of the various outfits and hairstyles and sometimes even accents. And even though we don’t go out and do complete style makeovers (most of us, anyway) we all have parts of ourselves, personnas, which often appear to be different people.

The difference between Madonna and the rest of the world (most of us, anyway) is that she has found ways to express her many sides to the world while we just keep them inside, for the most part.

But, if you think about it, you will see that while expressing these many sides, she has remained exactly the same person and pursued the same goals along the way.

She kept at the acting throughout, despite the mixed reviews. She kept creating music and live events that redefined what was possible. She kept shocking, and creating controversy (and publicity).

She has been true to herself, her values and her path, throughout her life and her creativity has flourished and her success has been astronomical. I think we can all learn a big lesson from that.

What side of yourself have you not shared with the world?
Can you let it out and make it work for you?

This post also appears at the Momentum Advantage blog.

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