Quote Of The Day: Shonda Rhimes On How There Are No Rules To Happiness

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Shonda Rhimes is the woman behind some of modern TV’s biggest successes, a writer and producer who created juggernauts like “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” and “Private Practice.” Via her production company, Shondaland, she has been involved in even more major pop culture phenomena, including hits like “Bridgerton” and “How to Get Away With Murder.”

She’s a force in the industry who has been honored with several accolades, including the Writers Guild of America’s Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement. Rhimes also has been nominated for five Emmys, and “Grey’s Anatomy” took home a Golden Globe in 2007 for Best Television Series — Drama. What’s more, she’s the first woman to create three dramas (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Private Practice,” and “Scandal”) that reached 100 episodes.

Rhimes is an accomplished player in the industry, and that’s why she is today’s quote of the day.

“There is no list of rules. There is one rule. The rule is: There are no rules. Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to.”

This quote comes from Shonda Rhimes’ 2016 book, “Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person.” The book chronicles what lessons Rhimes learned when she spent a year saying “yes” to the questions that arose in her life.  

Drawing on her own experiences, Shonda Rhimes reminds readers that they — and no one else — should be in charge of how their lives unfold. “Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be,” she writes.

That theme often comes up in her work, from the doctors of “Grey’s Anatomy” to the Regency-era “diamonds” of “Bridgerton”: Following what you truly desire, instead of listening to what your family/profession/society thinks you should want, is the key to real fulfillment.

It’s an idea that everyone can apply to their own lives, in ways both big and small.

“I think a lot of people dream. And while they are busy dreaming, the really happy people, the really successful people, the really interesting, powerful, engaged people? Are busy doing.” — from “Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person”

“The goal is that everyone should get to turn on the TV and see someone who looks like them and loves like them. And just as important, everyone should turn on the TV and see someone who doesn’t look like them and love like them. Because perhaps then they will learn from them. Perhaps then they will not isolate them. Marginalize them. Erase them. Perhaps they will even come to recognize themselves in them. Perhaps they will even learn to love them.” — from Rhimes’ speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s 2015 gala

“There is a brand that people assume that I am, and the kinds of stories that I can tell, and they have nothing to do with me as a writer, but simply have to do with the fact that we were on ABC… I’m excited to tell other stories. I’m excited to tell stories in different ways. I’m excited to be able to just do things in a different way. It’s just time.” — discussing her 2017 move from ABC to Netflix