Make the most of life, actress urges

'Find a way to move on' after adversity, actress advises.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Constant change is inevitable in life, but the challenge we face is to turn adversity into opportunity, actress Jane Seymour said here Wednesday.
"Life doesn't stand still. Life is about change," she said in a Trumbull Town Hall lecture at Packard Music Hall.
"Something happens, and you have to regroup, and you have to process that change, and you have to find a way to move on," she told the audience.
Seymour, 55, said she has undergone surgeries, three near-death experiences, three divorces, the loss of all her money and many ups and downs and changes in her career.
In her wide-ranging speech, she told how a knee injury in her youth forced her out of ballet and into acting, and she recalled her desperate search for work after she arrived in the United States with a mere $500.
She compared life to the ocean waves. "Water is much like life. It's in constant movement," she said.
Using the wave analogy, she said, "A lot of people get stuck when the crash happens, and they go down the deep, dark tunnel, and they live in a paralyzed state. They find themselves unable to move on and unable to enjoy the life that they have."
Share problems
"The best thing you can do when you go through really traumatic and terrible times is to share it with like-minded people to help find a way that you can cope with it," Seymour advised.
Whatever the problem, "You don't need to be alone. There are always other people out there who are dealing with it," she observed.
She recalled long conversations with the late Christopher Reeve, with whom she appeared in the romantic film "Somewhere in Time."
After he suffered his spinal cord injury, Reeve told her he was frustrated that so many seemingly able-bodied people were "completely paralyzed because of emotional inability to cope in life," and that he felt sorry for them.
"He said that, as physically paralyzed as he was, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually, he was not paralyzed at all," she recalled.
Her roles
Well-known for her six-season TV role as Dr. Michaela Quinn on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," Seymour has used her talents on the Broadway stage, in movies and on TV, and has won multiple Golden Globe and Emmy awards.
Besides being the mother of four, she is the author of "Jane Seymour's Guide to Romantic Living," "Two at a Time: Having Twins," and "Remarkable Changes."
An accomplished oil and watercolor artist, her paintings were exhibited in 2004 at The Butler Institute of American Art -- a museum she described as "a hidden treasure."
She and her husband, James Keach, recently produced "Walk the Line" -- the story of country music singers Johnny and June Carter Cash.
The British-born Seymour, who became a U.S. citizen last year, is starring in another movie she and Keach produced, "Blind Guy Driving," which will be released this summer.
milliken@vindy.com