If you are a Shondaland devotee or not, a mother or not, a spouse or not, Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes is FOR YOU! Because I can put serious money on the guess that you put other people’s needs ahead of yours, other’s people’s time ahead of yours, you put your dreams on the burner and you likely know you could make yourself a priority, but everyone else needs you. Now. Amirite?
I picked up Year of Yes years ago. Like, it’s been sitting at me for ages staring at me on my bookshelf. I’ve said it so many times, but it’s #truth. Books that make you think and do the hard work and consider priorities are harder for me to get through. A fictional setting with totally made-up characters? I’ll blast through that book and it’s sequel in record time.
But.
Year of Yes was a dream! And I don’t use that term lightly.
Shonda’s writing is inspirational but not preachy. She’s living a wildly different life than me but somehow she doesn’t seem to call herself a victim (for all the awards shows and talk shows and busy life she leads and has no time for) or seem braggy.
Get your paws on this delightful book. And even better? Get the audio version (I used the Libby app) and you will fall. in. love!
Start Me Up
We meet Shonda when she is ass-up in her busy life. Mama to two biological children and she just added another lovebug via adoption (an emotional journey to say the least). Single (and proud – she makes this very known). An incredible career.
But this girlfriend is tapped out. Like, no time, no energy, no room for anything extra in her life. Sound familiar?!
Her sister makes an off-hand comment at Thanksgiving that Shonda’s natural response to everything is ‘no.’ To which Shonda denies (I would too). But she gets thinking. And she comes to the harrrrrd truth that she’s unhappy.
She’s grateful for so much. She loves her life. But is she truly living? And being authentic? That would be a big N-0.
The Process
For one year, Shonda tells herself that she’ll say ‘yes’ to living, to the invites she normally would have declined, to being out of her comfort zone. One year.
But what she discovers on the path in the Year of Yes is so much more. It isn’t about parties and awards. Saying yes to dates she’d rather not be on in the first place. This is about being honest about the deep-seeded stuff that’s dragging her down.
Here’s some of the battles she works through:
- Being on Jimmy Kimmel (fear of being on camera)
- The Mommy War…and being proud to have a helping hand
- Health
- Taking the damn compliment
- Difficult conversations
- Tightening the circle
You Have More In Common Than You Think
Just like Shonda, we’re all pressed for time. We all smother our long-ass days in some vice (our kids’ treat buckets, wine, trash tv, scrolling online, trash-talking people, etc.). Shonda is no different. Just like Shonda, we don’t have time for the back-stabbers, the hangers-on, the wishy-washy pals. Just like Shonda, we’re trying to find balance between work and life and family and create healthy boundaries.
The Year of Yes is an invitation to examine what matters to you. Forget the ‘should’s’ and the ‘have to’s.’ This is an experience of saying yes to your priorities.
She may have a glam squad and fancier shoes than I can even dream of, but this book will make you dreaming to be her pal. Because listening to her makes you feel like you, too, helped co-write this book. She gets it.
Grab the Year of Yes. And quickly. This is a damn JOY!