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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Absolutely love the messages in this book and of course, the writing is terrific. I suppose maybe I should watch some TV now because I don't know anything about the shows...
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
This book made me fall even more in love with Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy is my all time favorite show and hearing all of her thoughts while writing/creating it just made me love it more. I love everything that Shonda stands for & strives for. This book was inspiring, laugh-out-loud hilarious, and made me cry.
Shonda’s thoughts on motherhood fundamentally changed my approach to parenting. Play is SO important and so easy to do. I love her rule about always saying yes when your kid asks you to play. I’m actively trying to implement it!!! Also the working mother quote—I resonate SO hard with that. I am a better mother because I have an identity outside of being a mother and that is good.
I would have rated a FULL 5 stars if not for a few qualms—1. She dissed Mary Poppins. I cannot vibe with that because Mary Poppins can do no wrong in my book. Also the kids are OBSESSED with the movie at the moment so I will not accept any Mary Poppins slander. 2. She was mildly fat-phobic once she started talking about her weight loss. I am 1000% on board with getting healthy and having your body feel good and having a good relationship with food. But, she took it a little far for my liking. I do recognize that this was written in 2015 so that could be a factor for the mild cringe.
Some quotes that stuck with me:
“Motherhood means I’m always a little bit awake, a little bit alert at all times. One eye open.”
“I had to stop dreaming of becoming her and start becoming myself.”
“Hard is relative.”
“In their world, mothers work. And I am a better mother for it. The woman I am because I get to run Shondaland, because I get to write all day, because I get to spend my days making things up, that woman is a better person ― and a better mother. Because that woman is happy. That woman is fulfilled. That woman is whole. I wouldn’t want them to know the me who didn’t get to do this all day long. I wouldn’t want them to know the me who wasn’t doing.”
“Being a mother is NOT a job. Stop throwing things at me. I'm sorry but it is not. I find it offensive to motherhood to call being a mother a job. Being a mother isn't a job. It's who someone is. It's who I am. You can quit a job. I can't quit being a mother. I'm a mother forever. Mothers are never off the clock, mothers are never on vacation. Being a mother redefines us, reinvents us, destroys and rebuilds us. Being a mother brings us face-to-face with ourselves as children, with our mothers as human beings, with our darkest fears of who we really are. Being a mother requires us to get it together or risk messing up another person forever. Being a mother yanks our hearts out of our bodies and attaches them to our tiny humans and sends them out into the world, forever hostages. If all of that happened at work, I'd have quit fifty times already. Because there isn't enough money in the world. And my job does not pay me in the smell of baby head and the soft weight of snuggly sleepy toddler on my shoulder. Being a mother is incredibly important. To the naysayers, I growl, do not diminish it by calling it a job.”
“Our way is not THE way.”
“Maybe don’t start off with your weapons raised.”
“The more I play, the happier I am at work. The happier I am at work, the more relaxed I become. The more relaxed I become, the happier I am at home. And the better I get at the play time I have with the kids, it’s really just love. We could all use a little more love. A lot more love.”
“Losing yourself happens one no at a time.”
“My body is just a container I carry my brain around in. But so is a car. And if the car is broken down and busted, my brain isn’t going anywhere. Same goes for my container.”
“Nothing works if you don’t actually decide that you are really and truly ready to do it.”
“Everything sounds like crap until you are in the right mindset.”
“If I don’t poke out of my shell and show people who I am, all anyone will think I am is my shell.”
“No matter how hard a conversation is, I know that on the other side of that difficult conversation lies peace. Knowledge. An answer is delivered. Character is revealed. Truces are formed. Misunderstandings are resolved. Freedom lies across the field of the difficult conversation. And the more difficult the conversation, the greater the freedom.”
“Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to, as your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”
Shonda’s thoughts on motherhood fundamentally changed my approach to parenting. Play is SO important and so easy to do. I love her rule about always saying yes when your kid asks you to play. I’m actively trying to implement it!!! Also the working mother quote—I resonate SO hard with that. I am a better mother because I have an identity outside of being a mother and that is good.
I would have rated a FULL 5 stars if not for a few qualms—1. She dissed Mary Poppins. I cannot vibe with that because Mary Poppins can do no wrong in my book. Also the kids are OBSESSED with the movie at the moment so I will not accept any Mary Poppins slander. 2. She was mildly fat-phobic once she started talking about her weight loss. I am 1000% on board with getting healthy and having your body feel good and having a good relationship with food. But, she took it a little far for my liking. I do recognize that this was written in 2015 so that could be a factor for the mild cringe.
Some quotes that stuck with me:
“Motherhood means I’m always a little bit awake, a little bit alert at all times. One eye open.”
“I had to stop dreaming of becoming her and start becoming myself.”
“Hard is relative.”
“In their world, mothers work. And I am a better mother for it. The woman I am because I get to run Shondaland, because I get to write all day, because I get to spend my days making things up, that woman is a better person ― and a better mother. Because that woman is happy. That woman is fulfilled. That woman is whole. I wouldn’t want them to know the me who didn’t get to do this all day long. I wouldn’t want them to know the me who wasn’t doing.”
“Being a mother is NOT a job. Stop throwing things at me. I'm sorry but it is not. I find it offensive to motherhood to call being a mother a job. Being a mother isn't a job. It's who someone is. It's who I am. You can quit a job. I can't quit being a mother. I'm a mother forever. Mothers are never off the clock, mothers are never on vacation. Being a mother redefines us, reinvents us, destroys and rebuilds us. Being a mother brings us face-to-face with ourselves as children, with our mothers as human beings, with our darkest fears of who we really are. Being a mother requires us to get it together or risk messing up another person forever. Being a mother yanks our hearts out of our bodies and attaches them to our tiny humans and sends them out into the world, forever hostages. If all of that happened at work, I'd have quit fifty times already. Because there isn't enough money in the world. And my job does not pay me in the smell of baby head and the soft weight of snuggly sleepy toddler on my shoulder. Being a mother is incredibly important. To the naysayers, I growl, do not diminish it by calling it a job.”
“Our way is not THE way.”
“Maybe don’t start off with your weapons raised.”
“The more I play, the happier I am at work. The happier I am at work, the more relaxed I become. The more relaxed I become, the happier I am at home. And the better I get at the play time I have with the kids, it’s really just love. We could all use a little more love. A lot more love.”
“Losing yourself happens one no at a time.”
“My body is just a container I carry my brain around in. But so is a car. And if the car is broken down and busted, my brain isn’t going anywhere. Same goes for my container.”
“Nothing works if you don’t actually decide that you are really and truly ready to do it.”
“Everything sounds like crap until you are in the right mindset.”
“If I don’t poke out of my shell and show people who I am, all anyone will think I am is my shell.”
“No matter how hard a conversation is, I know that on the other side of that difficult conversation lies peace. Knowledge. An answer is delivered. Character is revealed. Truces are formed. Misunderstandings are resolved. Freedom lies across the field of the difficult conversation. And the more difficult the conversation, the greater the freedom.”
“Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to, as your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.”
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I loved the audio of this book. It provided an insight into the mind of the writer of my favourite tv shows. I've no idea what reading the book would be like but this audiobook was like sitting down with an old friend and listening to her tell you about her last year.
An alternate title for this book could be "Exposure Works." If you like Shonda's shows, you will hear her voice loud and clear and probably enjoy this book.
funny
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
I have never seen any of the Shondaland shows (other than offhand greys anatomy and episodes) so I wasn’t expecting to LOVE this book but I DID! It feels like Shonda and I have a lot in common and for that, I am thankful for her thoughts on this topic because it is some of the best motivation I have ever received. Not only do I want to say yes to everything, I want to say yes to the no’s too, I want to be in love myself, and I want to power stance and dance it out. I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone and everyone and even more so if you’re a fan of her work!
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I read this for a book club, it was ok - that sounds very lacklustre I know, if you like autobiographical/self-transformational writing then this might be just your cup of tea but I usually regret any reading time spent away from fiction and thus it proved again!