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How can you not love Ellen DeGeneres, right? I mean, she’s got it going on: She makes simple everyday things funny, has a talk show that has rivaled Oprah on many occasions, has won 50 Emmy’s, has an awesome vegan blog, is married to the gorgeous Portia de Rossi, and she certainly knows how to bust a move on the dance floor–and her studio floor. The 53-year-old comedian and all-around likable person also recently released her third book, Seriously, I’m Kidding, where she dishes on everything from her personal life, to her career and even her stint on American Idol.
Even with all of her accomplishments, the self-proclaimed introvert says she’s successful despite herself and her social awkwardness. She also admits to having trouble sitting still, but because of that, she’s learning to meditate.
In a recent interview on the Today show, Ann Curry asked her:
What is it that makes you remain consistent in your downward-dogging, yoga, vegan-eating, feel-the-burn workouts?
To which DeGeneres responded by talking about meditation:
Because it feels good. Kinda like when you have to shut your computer down, just sometimes when it goes crazy, you just shut it down and when you turn it on, it’s OK again. That’s what meditation is for me.
While she says meditation does help her, she still says our society operates on too much judgment–as she saw first-hand when she announced she was gay in 1997 and was subsequently banned from TV and advertisers for a period of three years.
I don’t think it was a failure, but it certainly gave me a lot of time to sit still and go, ‘Who am I?’
It’s impressive to see a celebrity who acknowledges such importance in health, tranquility and happiness. And as her yogi guru recently shared, she doesn’t take her career too seriously. And if something gets in the way of her overall well-being (as American Idol did), she knows when to step back.
Now, happier than ever, she says she’s “free” and is able to be “exactly who I am”.
Photo: vegetarianstar.com
I can relate to her statement about having to stay still for 3 years (after coming out and her career tanked) and having to think about who she is without the fame, and everything else. There are times in our lives when we are forced to stay still and go deep within. Those times we should see a gift.
Lovely, I will get the book.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Ellen. She’s amazing.