Maria Shriver

March 26, 2013

A Woman's Experience

Magical Journey: An Apprenticeship in Contentment

By Katrina Kenison

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I tried to sneak past my 50th birthday without a celebration. When my husband offered to throw me a party, I turned him down.

Why would I draw attention to the fact that I had fewer days left on earth than I’d lived already?

I suppose I was also guilty of a bit of wishful thinking -– as in, maybe if I just ignored the fact that I was growing older, nothing would change.

Of course, life doesn’t work that way. The only thing we can ever know for sure is that change is going to come, whether we want it to or not.

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March 25, 2013

A Woman's Experience

Fragile Days

By Sarah Seidelmann

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Some days I feel fragile, like a peony that's been in a glass jar on the kitchen counter a little too long and is showing signs of bruising and withering.

Today was one of those days. I used to worry that having these kinds of days meant I was becoming depressed or going into some kind of steep emotional decline. Out of fear, I avoided being here.   


Today began with my husband saying (as gently as a person who’s bent on getting out the door by 6:30 a.m. can say it), "Wake up, Sarah. It's time. You need to get up."

That was at 6:23. Most mornings, I'm up at 5:30 to do my routine of silence, coffee, and meditation, but a sore throat at bedtime last night told me it was okay not to set my alarm.



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March 22, 2013

Alzheimer's and Caregiving

Making Memories

By Jennifer Harrison

“Memory...is the diary we all carry about with us.”  - Oscar Wilde

My grandmother came over for a sleepover. This was no easy task: my grandmother is 94 and has late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

She arrived at my parent’s home to join my own family of five for an overnight visit and my gut reaction was resistance mixed with anger. Why?

I want my grandmother of the past. I want her big Irish smile and her tales of childhood summers on Block Island. I want her delicious Yorkshire pudding and to hear her petite hands play the piano. More simply, I want her back.

My three children will never know the grandmother that I knew. That thought is so painful I rarely allow it in. Now I had to.

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March 21, 2013

I've Been Thinking

An Inside Job

By Maria Shriver

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I was blessed this week to be able to go to Rome and cover the installation of Pope Francis (watch here and here).

What an experience! While I was there, I met many people who took the path of religious life. They all seemed to have one thing in common: an inner peace and an outer joy.

I tried to speak to as many of them as I could, men and women. What was it that made them so content, so at peace? Many of them told me that their faith, their service to others and their simple lives were the difference makers. One nun said to me, "What do we all really need in life? We need food, a place to call home and love."

Many of us feel like our lives are incomplete because we don't have this or that. We feel less than because of what our neighbors have and we don't. We feel less than because we don't look as good as this person or that one. This list can, of course, go on and on.

It's hard to stay centered in a world that advertises that more is more. It's hard to feel beautiful as you age in a society that extols youth. It's hard to feel valuable if your job isn't valued or, worse, if you aren't able to find one.

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March 21, 2013

On A Mission

A Movement of Acceptance

By Katie Driscoll

Thursday, March 21, 2013 is World Down Syndrome Day. For more information, visit http://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org.

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I write this post in honor of my daughter Grace and for the many mothers who walked before me paving the way for my daughter and all people living with a disability.

My life changed the day I was told my child would be born with Down Syndrome. The things that bothered me just hours before no longer had a place in my life.

When Grace was born, our family transformed and we become more caring and accepting individuals.

I struggled this year to come up with a story to share on this very special day. It didn't come to me until I was photographing a very special little boy named Remy. Remy's mother opened a door of wisdom by introducing me to Josephine Lapp.

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March 20, 2013

How I Did It

How I Did It: Alison Zarrow, Founder of Clearly Kombucha

By Alison Zarrow

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Going to college in Palo Alto, California provided me with a unique perspective on the importance of leading a balanced life.

As an undergraduate at Stanford University, I found myself in a community of innovators, many of whom sacrificed their own health in order to get ahead in their careers.

Like my classmates, I, too, felt the entrepreneurial itch and wanted to create something from the ground up. In my case, however, I wanted to create something that could enhance my own happiness and health, as opposed to deteriorate it.

Apart from the entrepreneurial spirit of the region, I had noticed that the Bay area has a culture focused on health and wellbeing. I saw my education at Stanford and my life in Palo Alto as an opportunity; I found myself at an intersection, living in the perfect place for innovation.

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March 19, 2013

Tips for Transformation

Overcoming Suffering, Battling for Grace

By Cynthia Toussaint

As a woman ravaged by intense pain and the loss of virtually all my life’s goals, I have been transformed by suffering and love. And brought to a higher place.

It all began 30 years ago when I was with the man I love, John Garrett, who is still in my life today.

I was a 21-year-old ballerina with a bright future -- one where I would dance, act and sing. The core of this was ballet—my greatest love and my identity since I was seven.

Ballet meant more to me than anything else. I didn't think anything could be more beautiful and there certainly wasn't anything that made me feel more whole.

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March 18, 2013

Tips for Transformation

The Sacred Gifts of Ritual

By Serena Carroll

Sometimes magic happens, even in times of tremendous loss and grief.

The changes can be so profound as to lift one’s life into a higher and better space -- so much so, in fact, that great peace and healing can become the unexpected compensation of such tragedy.

Such a loss did occur with the suicide of a beloved yet troubled son. It’s how this family’s very real sadness and pain ultimately altered their lives that brings me to write this today.

I was privileged to be there and take part in a beautiful ritual that grew, took on a life of its own, and made way for these changes to happen.

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