I guess the proper place to begin is with the admission she was not even on my radar. Oh, I’d heard of the book. I’d been drawn to it for years, the title alone tugging my heart until it pulled itself all the way to the top of my To Be Read list. But I don’t watch Grey’s, or Scandal, or How to Get Away With Murder, and so Shonda Rhimes, who created and runs those blockbuster shows, was a not a familiar name to me.
All that has changed. I just finished Year of Yes and can proudly say Shonda Rhimes rocked my world in the most powerful, gorgeous, healthy way possible.
The book is her telling of the life explosion she experienced when her sister offered, in a casual comment: You never say yes to anything. It pierced her, this thought, and it became the driving force behind a commitment to spending one year saying yes to anything that came along that scared her.
(This is a woman who hired a publicist so she could avoid public appearances, just saying.)
This book is good, y’all. So good. And not in the way I expected. Shonda gets real, going deep enough into her hesitancies to actually identify what it is that scares her. Then she works hard at addressing that particular thing, which changes her perspective, which opens up her life.
My favorite part of the story is the commencement speech she delivered at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, in 2014. The audiobook (read by Shonda, which is so powerful) features that speech. I want every young person everywhere to hear it. I wish I’d heard it at 21.
Heck, the truth is I want every young woman I know to read this book.
So thank you, Shonda, for lessons and inspiration and a grand nudge to walk more boldly toward. For the reminder that as women, and as human beings on this earth–it is our honor and our glory to step out of the shadows and fully, confidently, into the light.
this morning’s light
XXOO
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You, my friend, open my eyes everyday and in so many ways!
Shonda is a good one! Thanks, friend!
I’m buying 5 copies of this book and giving it to 4 of my friends. Keeping one for myself ! It hits home in so many ways and the timing in my life right now to read something like this is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing!
So happy this was meaningful for you. It has been very powerful in my life in so many ways. Thanks for sharing!
Too kind, my sistah ( :
Preach about that “toward’ my little duet singing partner! Woop!
xxoo
Sister, you got that right. I channeled every bit of Shonda courage for that one. (And it helped to have you–my favorite singer of all time–there beside me!)