Monica Lewinsky experienced a very unique nightmare back in the 1990s. As a White House intern during the Bill Clinton presidency, she idolized the powerful man she served so much that it blossomed into an affair. However, when that affair went public, Lewinsky’s entire life was turned upside down.
Even though it was Bill Clinton (a married man and the most powerful person in the world at the time) who was most at fault, Lewinsky caught the worst of the fallout. She was painted as a homewrecker, a manipulator, a stereotype, and a punchline. Sadly, that legacy has followed Lewsinky for decades, but now that she has turned 50, the one-time intern has learned the power and peace that come from controlling her own life story.
Just what has Lewinsky learned, and how has it completely changed her life? Keep reading to learn the answers!
She hated turning 40
Understandably, Monica Lewinsky is a largely private person. That’s why we were so hyped when she appeared on the Today show for an interview with Savannah Guthrie. No topic seemed off-limits, and one of the things that Lewinsky confessed is that she really dreaded turning 40.
Like many of us, she thought “turning 40 was horrible.” At the time, she still felt largely haunted by the Bill Clinton scandal and how that event had largely defined her life. Fortunately, when her fiftieth birthday rolled around, it brought an entirely different perspective, and she is now much happier with her life.
Finding empowerment at 50
In the interview, Monica Lewinsky told Savannah Guthrie that “turning 50 was very empowering.” One of the ways she made this into an empowering event was by doing something all of us should do from time to time: taking stock of her many accomplishments over the last decade.
She told Guthrie that as she was about to turn 50, she had a kind of revelation while sitting in her car. “[One day I] found myself in the car, waiting for something, and just started to go through mentally all of the things that had happened this last decade,” she said. After adding things up, she realized just how much she had managed to accomplish, and that put a positive spin on turning 50.
Finally telling the world her side of the Bill Clinton scandal
Though she has made many accomplishments in the last decade, perhaps the most significant one for Monica Lewinsky is that she was a producer for the FX series Impeachment: American Crime Story. As the name implies, this series recreated the events of her infamous affair with Bill Clinton.
Part of what made the series so noteworthy is that it showed us Monica Lewinsky’s side of what happened in fierce and unflinching detail. After all these years, the world now finally knew what Lewinsky was thinking and feeling during this time, and that was enough to bring her some much-needed closure.
The joy and pain of becoming a public figure once more
In the interview with Savannah Guthrie, Monica Lewinsky touched on one of the dark ironies of her accomplishments. The initial Bill Clinton scandal had turned Monica Lewinsky into a public figure, and after all of the criticism directed at her during that time, she spent most of the years afterward trying to fade into obscurity.
In order to work with FX and accomplish her goals as an activist, Lewinsky had to become a public figure yet again. She told Guthrie that this experience “was terrifying,” especially because she even finds friendly interviews very “hard” to complete. “It’s not natural for me. But it was — you know, it’s a long journey from ‘98,” she said. “It’s been 25 years now. And I’m grateful, I’m really grateful for where things are now.”
Leading the fight against bullying
In addition to working with FX, one of Monica Lewinsky’s biggest accomplishments has been her fight against bullying. She kicked off a campaign titled “Stand Up to Yourself,” and she offers what may be one of the most unconventional antibullying messages ever created.
To Lewinsky, one of the biggest side effects of getting bullied is that it begins to change how you look at yourself. Before too long, you may start believing what bullies have to say about your flaws and weaknesses, and that means their bullying continues long after they are out of your life. Fortunately, Lewinsky learned to stand up to her own inner bully, and she now uses her platform to help others who may be suffering as she once did.
Monica Lewinsky’s simple way of leading a happier life
As an example of the philosophy at the center of her antibullying messaging, Monica Lewinsky told Savannah Guthrie a story about falling down while walking around some unpacked boxes. She completely fell and hit the ground hard, but what surprised her most wasn’t the pain…instead, it was how she reacted to the fall.
She was pleasantly surprised to find that her first thought was “‘Oh thank God I didn’t hurt myself,’ instead of, you know, ‘You f—— idiot. You klutz. Of course you fell.’” Like so many others, Lewinsky was used to listening to the negativity in her head. Now she spreads the message that if all of us start “becoming mindful of how often we say these things [to ourselves],” we can gain the same happy perspective on life that Lewinsky now enjoys.