Work helps me a lot.
Cher on work ethic. (Commonplace Book Project)
The Commonplace Project is a daily post based on Ray Bradbury’s advice to aspiring writers: read a poem, a short story, and an essay every day for 1000 days. These posts start with a quote and go wherever the rabbit hole leads. Follow The 1000 Day MFA so you don’t miss a thing.
“Work helps me a lot. I enjoy the work, but the work keeps you moving as well. It just keeps you moving, it keeps you around people. You don’t get a chance to go, ‘Oh, what’s life about? You’re just doing something. You’re being productive.” — Cher, In a 2008 interview with Nightline
Oh, man. After making myself write about Ayn Rand last night, I’m so happy to move on to Cher today.
One of my earliest memories is getting a Sunny and Cher Colorform set for Christmas when I was five or six years old. I already had a Cher doll with hair to her ankles and eyelashes an inch long.
I remember sitting on the floor at my grandma’s coffee table and moving those little clingy pieces around, setting up a stage for my Cher doll to perform in front of.
I have always been in love with Cher.
I love her style. I love her music. I love her movies. I love that she is constantly reinventing herself. I love that she’s created a body of work that is so amazing.
As I’m writing this, I’m watching 2010’s Burlesque. Maybe I’ll watch Silkwood next. Or Mask.
I wanted to be Cher when I was a little girl watching the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour with my sister.
I still want to be Cher. Or — no that’s not quite right. I want to be me, but more Cher-like. A friend asked me recently if my parents-in-law (who live with us and both have dementia) make me afraid of getting older. They don’t.
I honest-to-God actively make choices in my 40s so that when I’m 70, I can be like Cher. I have every intention of being as fabulous as possible.
(This is one of my favorite movie moments. Ever.)
I think it maybe starts with work. Cher’s work ethic is stunning. Maybe the fact that she just never has stopped doing work she loves is why in her 70s she’s so incredible.
I loved this review of a recent Cher show.
She’s 72 now, and she reminded the audience of it with a “Hell, yes, you should clap! I’m still here, for God’s sake!”
“Still here” is underselling it. My favorite wool pea coat from college is “still here.” Cher is a wellspring of feminine strength, talent and creativity. Her words are empowering, her journey imperfect, her style and grace impeccable.
I also really enjoyed this post in the New York Times.
My favorite thing in the world is to rehearse. I can pick any song and just stand there and sing it. No one in the audience to judge me. And I love the way singing feels in my body — because it’s so big, and I’m not. But the music comes out in the biggest way.
Cher’s most recent album is Dancing Queen — a collection of Abba covers. So much fun.
I’ve added Josiah Howard’s biography, Cher: Strong Enough, to my reading list.
I really might also have to get my hands on this. An entire book about my Cher doll and her Bob Mackie clothes.
Today’s Poem:
I was so excited to see that one of my very favorite poets, Dorianne Laux has a poem about Cher. (And that she wanted to be Cher, too!) Please be sure to click the title and read the whole poem. It’s so good.
Cher by Dorianne Laux
I wanted to be Cher, tall
as a glass of iced tea,
her bony shoulders draped
with a curtain of dark hair
that plunged straight down,
the cut tips brushing
her nonexistent butt.Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter @shauntagrimes and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation and the upcoming novel The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.