Tavis Smiley . Shows . Mary J. Blige . December 21, 2009 PBS:

"Tavis: Why have you been, why are you so hard on yourself? I'm the same way. I've been trying to figure that out for myself, so here I am asking you, like I got a whole lot of nerve, but why are you so hard on yourself?

Blige: Well, I guess for years you just think that if you're not hard on yourself, you're doing something wrong. If you're not - if you're happy for - if you're happy then you're a little weird about being happy. Once you get to that place where you're like, gosh, I'm really happy, something happens where you're like, why?
That's that comfortable place, that dark place that's comfortable, and I'm continuously trying to unravel out of that place because it's easy to just sink back, especially when you think you're being betrayed or betrayal kicks in or someone comes along as a human being and hurts you. It's easy to slip back into that place of man, whatever. So that's basically it, but for the most part I'm doing well. I've made progress, but I have to learn how to get up quicker. I've learned how to get up quicker than I used to. I used to lay there for months and years. But now I'm just laying there for a week (laughter) when there's no more time.

Tavis: We've got to cut this down to days now, huh?

Blige: Right, I got to cut this down to days and maybe hours now, because it's getting harder to lay there. Everything around you is just going and going and going and people are passing you by, and you're down there like (makes noise). So it is - yeah."


There is a lot of good stuff from this transcript, check it out! Mary has some good things to say!