Maria Shriver has been very open with her fans about her “brutal” divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger, which came after he confessed to multiple affairs and fathering a child with their household staffer Mildred “Patty” Baena.
In her new book of reflections and poetry called I Am Maria: My Reflections and Poems on Heartbreak, Healing, and Finding Your Way Home, which is out now, Shriver shares candid and deeply personal insights into her healing journey following her divorce from the actor and bodybuilder, while also dealing with the death of her parents at the same time. And during the book’s promotion, she has not held back!
Shriver sat down with Savannah Guthrie on Today on April 1st to discuss her book, while also detailing some of the significant moments in her life that have shaped its pages.
Maria Shriver Discusses Her Book With Savannah Guthrie On ‘Today’
Maria, 69, began by telling Savannah that she never would have expected to be writing or publishing a book of poetry, and confessed: “I never thought I would write poetry, but I found that I had an artistic and creative voice, which I believe everybody does. It’s real, and I think it expresses the kind of feelings we all have about life, fear, loss, heartbreak, and what makes up a life. So I’m hoping people will find themselves in this and begin to reflect on their own lives.”
Savannah reiterated that Maria wrote from a place of heartbreak, saying, “Losing both your parents, losing your career, losing your marriage,” in reference to her split from the Terminator star. She added: “You said that you were broken and had to start from ground zero, from a hotel room floor…”
Maria Shriver Talks About Overcoming Heartbreak And Loss
"That's right," Maria replied. "I wanted to go back and see, when did my heartbreak start? When did my loss begin? When did longing take hold?"
Savannah then referenced Maria's past, and suggested that she may not have been accustomed to discussing grief and pain openly, which is why she had to do a lot of work on herself to get to where she is today. Maria previously confessed to undergoing a "litany" of self-discovery methods, including therapy, spiritual healing, shamans, psychics, and even time spent in a convent, before discovering that writing poetry was the key to helping her process her feelings and ultimately find herself.
Savannah said to Maria: "You grew up as a Kennedy. Not only the fame but also the heartbreak and the grief. You lost two uncles, and you write about how that wasn't really spoken about. This grief and trauma were unspeakable."
Maria Shriver Discusses Growing Up In The Kennedy Family And How She Wasn't Used To Talking About Grief
"I think I grew up at a time when people didn't do that," Maria said, in agreement, before going on to explain how she had suppressed so many of her feelings over the years.
"People did not talk about feelings. They didn't talk about grief. They didn't talk about what was happening. They just soldiered on. So I thought that's what you did. I didn't have a demonstrative mother, and I assumed that was normal."
"Looking back, I realized I had suppressed so much," Maria continued in her candid interview. "I built up walls around my grief and loneliness. And I think everybody does that because they don't know any other way," she continued, adding: "That coping mechanism serves you until a certain point – and then it doesn't."
"Then you have to let it all out and figure out who you are underneath it all," she went on. "And what I found was someone tender, deeply feminine, heartbroken, longing for love, and eager to show up in a more open, vulnerable way. This book is the result of that discovery."
Maria Shriver And Savannah Guthrie Talk About How 'Time Is A Healer'
Savannah acknowledged Maria's growth, and said: "We know that time is a healer, and you are in a different place now. But it seems like to access the real you, you had to go through this terrible pain – your nightmare scenario. It happened, and that's how you found yourself."
"But I think everybody has pain," Maria responded. "Through my journalism, I have interviewed so many people who have found a way to forgive, overcome pain, and lead triumphant lives. That's the kind of life I wanted to live."
She continued: "I wanted to learn from others, I wanted to learn from myself, I wanted to put my reflections down on paper, and I wanted to walk alongside others experiencing the same thing."
Maria also touched on her son Patrick Schwarzenegger's role in the extremely-bingeable The White Lotus, referencing how obsessed everyone is with the show and his character.
"I'm going to change the name of the book to I Am Patrick's Mother because all anybody wants to talk to me about is Saxon," she joked.
