Shonda Rhimes: My Year of Saying Yes to Everything

What is the Hum?

The writer, producer, creator describe her Hum and losing it this way:

"When I am hard at work... when I am deep in it, there is no other feeling," The Hum is a drug, the Hum is music, the Hum is God's whisper in my ear.

But what happens when it stops? As she walks us through her "Year of Yes" and to the moment when she got her Hum back, I'm reminded why it's important to have a life outside of work. It was because she stopped to play with her toddler that she got her get her Hum back. If she had put whatever she was rushing out the door to do over her daughter, she wouldn't have had her mojo back when she did. Rhimes says she learned the lesson that even she needs those breaks. Fun, play, and restorative time offs are sometimes just the thing our work needs. It's amazing how beautifully we're designed—like a high tech car or device, we have our version of indicator lights to let us know when we need food, rest, fun, and other breaks.