Okay, I confess: I was reading Oprah magazine the other day. But it had some really good stuff! Like a brief interview with Renée Fleming, the famous soprano who just won a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo. Bitch can sing, and she’s smart.
Fleming shared a few worthwhile pieces of lifestyle advice.
1. Make time for joy. Life quickly becomes drudgery if you only focus on “shoulds.” Look inside and sprinkle your daily life with bits of fun and pleasure. Fleming talks about her sunset walks around Paris. Plebs like you and me might wanna think about reading more, sneaking out to that matinee, or sharing a glass of wine more often with friends.
2. Express yourself. Childbirth is the ultimate creative act (ask Plato) and a lot of us have performed it again and again, but Fleming suggests finding other areas where you can express yourself creatively. Sounds cheesy, but in fact it’s uplifting, even if the end product is not what you’d exactly call “art”. Who cares? It’s the journey.
3. No success without hard work. Fleming quotes Annie Liebovitz’s take on the key to success among all of the overachievers she’s photographed: “Everybody works really hard.” Tell that to your kids, often.
Sure, this is a bit of a confection, but it all rings true and is a nice way of setting your intentions for the day.
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