Mary J Blige shared the ritual she does every morning that she says has changed her life.
The 52-year-old singer talked about her daily routine and how it’s helped boost her confidence during a recent interview with People for the magazine’s latest issue. She revealed that every morning, she looks at herself in the mirror and says: “Good morning, gorgeous”.
“Sometimes my eyes are all closed up,” she said. “But I strain to see myself. It’s not about the vanity of it, it’s about how we’re strengthened. No one can love me like me. Nobody can.”
Blige’s go-to phrase is also the name and title track of her latest album, which received six Grammy nominations.
She specified which point of the day she does this ritual and further explained why it’s so important.
“I do it in my prayer time. There’s no makeup, no nominations for an award. It’s just me and God,” Blige continued. “And the beauty of being able to say: ‘I appreciate my life.’ To look in the mirror, my eyes are half closed, and say something to myself that I never even believed.”
The “Family Affair” singer also noted how recovering from heartbreak and issues with substance abuse has allowed her to be happy with herself and her life.
“I didn’t care about myself,” she said. “I didn’t love myself. You get what you’re giving yourself. So now that I’m giving to myself, I’m getting it all.”
This isn’t Blige’s first time sharing her daily words of affirmation. During an interview with Elle in January 2022, she first addressed how she pays herself “the high compliments”, even if she didn’t necessarily “believe” in them, to help “build [herself] up”.
“I would do it in the morning, because that’s the time when your hair is not done and you don’t have on makeup. You’re just kind of dealing with yourself for real,” she explained.
Elsewhere in her interview with People, Blige spoke about her musical career and her title as the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, which is something she now feels like she’s “getting the credit” for.
“Being the trailblazer ahead of that whole movement,” she said. “I honestly can say back then I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just making music. I feel like I’m getting the credit that I deserve now, but for a while, people were just passing by me. I don’t blame anyone. I was passing by myself.”
