Naomi Judd: Exclusive Interview – On Forgiveness
OMTimes: You say stories connect us. Why?
Naomi Judd:When I share my stories whether it’s being a victim of incest at 3 1/2 years old or abuse by my ex-husband, when I look back at the things I survived, I have a perspective and a sense of looking back that I have survived. I’ve survived incest, survived Hepatitis C, survived embezzlement of 3-million dollars from my manager, so that now at age 68 I can feel calmer.
When you’re vulnerable and you’re open, you don’t have anything to hide. I like that feeling. That is the shortest distance between two people when you’re completely honest. Once you start from there at ground zero, it’s our stories that ultimately connect us.
OMTimes: Your story of being a single mom to Wynonna and Ashley Judd deeply shaped you into the person you’ve become. Can you talk about being a single mom?
Naomi Judd: I was a mom at 18, living in a small apartment in Kentucky. I didn’t have a car. I was desperate. I was behind in my rent. My husband at the time was abusive.
As a single mother, there was no time for an inner life. I felt really crummy about myself. We attract what we feel worthy of and I felt like such a failure.
I’ve realized we won’t let ourselves have what we think we deserve. And I felt like I didn’t deserve anything.
OMTimes: How does deserving and self-esteem play a role in our happiness?
Naomi Judd: Our self-esteem dictates how happy we’re going to be, how healthy we’re going to be and even how long we’re going to live. Because I felt so much self-loathing, I was catapulted into self forgiveness when I hid from a guy that was abusive. I realized that I had done nothing wrong. I was doing the best darn job I could do raising my two kids by myself.
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