Thriving Through the Thirties

Timing, my friend, makes all the difference when it comes to how you connect with a book. I’ve been eyeing “Year of Yes: How to Dance it Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person” by Shonda Rhimes ever since it dropped in 2015. But, for some reason, I never really got around to it. That is, until it popped into my head out of nowhere a few years back.

Honestly, I don’t think it would’ve hit me quite the same if I’d read it at any other point in my life. How much I resonated with it has everything to do with where my head’s at right now -Me, stepping out of my comfort zone, saying “yes” to things that scare the heck out of me-. After finishing the book, I’m seriously thinking, “Why not do more of that?”

Memoirs are my jam. I can’t stress this enough. It might sound a bit creepy, but I see it as my one-way ticket into the real lives of the celebs I adore. Who wouldn’t be curious about what Beyoncé does when she’s not owning the stage, right? Well, I sure am. That being said, I felt like this particular book didn’t quite delve as deep as I expected. Nope, no juicy gossip. Nada. Zero. But you know what? Shonda’s got a way with words, and she makes it worth your while. “Year of Yes” is light, witty, and a whole lot of fun.

I used to low-key worship Shonda Rhimes. Considering I’m not exactly a creative genius, her work left me utterly awestruck. I wanted to peek into her mind to see how on Earth she managed to juggle three mega-hit shows simultaneously. To this day, I still think she’s a genius. Though maybe a touch crazy and a teeny bit of a psychopath. I mean, how could she kill off Mark Sloan?! Oh, and let’s not forget Georges O’Malley and Derek Shepherd. Scratch that, let’s just pretend I didn’t even bring it up, so I don’t have to sob myself to sleep thinking about all those beloved characters we lost in the 19 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy.

Yet, I still associate Shonda Rhimes with some of the best times of my life, back when Thursdays were the absolute highlight of the week. I’d rush home from work, settle onto my bed with a glass of red — okay, fine, it was more like a bottle if I’m being real —get my weekly dose of drama, and then prep to dance the night away at Yanvalou or Oloffson, kicking off the weekend in style.

Anywho, I dove into this book hoping to get a closer look at the woman behind Shondaland. But, truth be told, I might have come out of it even more obsessed with Cristina Yang.

So, the other day, I’m at this training, and they hit us with the icebreaker: favorite movie or TV show superhero. The question caught me off guard because I’m not really into superheroes. But going through “Year of Yes” reminded me that not all heroes wear capes. I found my own inspiration years back while watching Grey’s Anatomy, and it’s… drumroll, please… Cristina Yang. The ultimate badass.

“I wanted us to watch and admire a woman who did not want the things we have all been told we are supposed to want. I wanted us to befriend a woman who was busy throwing out the fairy tale and writing her own story,” Rhimes says in her memoir. And for that, I admire her a little bit more. I thank her for somehow giving some of us the validation to write our own stories and live out loud.