Be True to Yourself - Ellen DeGeneres

Anyway, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and the way I ended up on this path was from a very tragic event. I was maybe 19, and my girlfriend at the time was killed in a car accident. And I passed the accident, and I didn't know it was her and I kept going, and I found out shortly after that it was her and I was living in a basement apartment I had no money, I had no heat, no air. I had a mattress on the floor and the apartment was infested with fleas.

And I was soul-searching, I was like why is she suddenly gone, and there are fleas here? I don't understand, there must be a purpose, and wouldn't it be so convenient if we could pick up
the phone and call God, and ask these questions. And I started writing and what poured out of
me was an imaginary conversation with God which was one-sided, and I finished writing it and I looked at it and I said to myself and I hadn't even been doing stand-up ever, there was no club in town I said, I'm gonna do this on the Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.

At the time he was the king, and I'm gonna be the first woman in the history of the show to be called over to sit down. And several years later, I was the first woman in the history of the show
and only woman in the history of the show to sit down because of that phone conversation with God that I wrote.

And I started this path of stand-up and it was successful and it was great, but it was hard, because I was trying to please everybody and I had this secret that I was keeping, that I was gay. And I thought if people found out they wouldn't like me, they wouldn't laugh at me. Then my career turned into ,I got my own sitcom and that was very successful, another level of success.

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在这段演讲里，艾伦讲述了自己年轻时痛失女友、走上脱口秀舞台的心酸历程。等到自己事业有成的时候，自己内心最大的挣扎就是，不敢告诉观众自己是gay这个事实。因为她怕观众知道了之后会离她而去，从此身败名裂。

但是，每天戴着面具生活，非常心累，即使能骗的了所有观众，也骗不了自己，晚上独自面对自己时会更加煎熬。于是，她决定向所有人坦白。于是，她被大家抛弃了，事业瞬间陷入低谷，三年里没有任何人找她录节目。

但是，能做回自己的感觉真好。而且，有很多同性恋的青少年给她写信，说从她身上获得莫大的鼓励，有的人就因为她的举动而放弃了自杀。

多年以后，找回自己的Ellen慢慢被大家接受，终于成为了一名大师级的主持人。