Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist, activist, author of six best-selling books, and former First Lady of California as the estranged wife of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She has received a Peabody Award and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a "television show with a conscience". She is a member...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Show Host
Date of Birth6 November 1955
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
I made the mistake of thinking that external accomplishments would bring me peace. I thought it was about the job or a book or making a name for myself.
I decided that I was going to be the Kennedy who makes her own name and finds her own job and works like a dog. My comeuppance was when Arnold got elected - I became the Kennedy who was married to the governor.
Having children-the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings-is the biggest job anyone can embark on. You have to take a leap of faith and ask lots of people for their help and guidance.
I was happy being a journalist. I didn't realize losing my job, my identity went with it.
Creating the Minerva Awards. I really have enjoyed that. I have to say that I moaned and groaned about this job but the way I have it now, I enjoy everything about it. I enjoy giving people service opportunities.
Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in ways that might initially scare you. That can be being an architect of change.
When it comes to political spouses, Laura Bush has managed to let it be known that she disagrees with her husband,'' Nieto said.
I, I am my own woman. I have not been, quote, 'bred' to look the other way. I look at that man back there in the green room straight on, eyes wide open, and I look at him with an open heart.
Poetry has always been made to seem kind of cultish. But the truth is, everybody really loves it! It's much more mainstream than anyone thought.
If you want to be an architect of change by raising great kids, God bless. If you want to do it by raising money for your kid's school, great. If you want to build a garden - whatever it is. Women like myself - they're complicated, and they have a lot of different interests and qualities within them.
One of my greatest joys is poetry. I read it almost every day, and I've even taken a stab at writing some of my own. A poem I wrote for my mother when she was dying really helped me get through that hard time.
You can spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what other people expect from you, or you can make a decision to let that all go.
I feel very blessed to have four brothers. My brothers always say, 'Oh, you know, we prepared you for the world of journalism. We prepared you for Arnold. We prepared you for everything.' And in a way they're right. Because you know, they take no prisoners. They were very tough.
The gift my mother gave me was the gift of possibility. From an early age, she instilled in me a belief that I could do anything I wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of, 'Can I?' or 'Should I?' It was just, 'You can, you must, you will!' She wanted me to believe that anything was possible.