Ali Macgraw at 83 Finally Happy

The Oscar-nominated star has put aside her past and created a peaceful life out of the spotlight's glare

- By Rick Egusquiza

Ali MacGraw begins her days by rising with the sun. After she feeds her -pets, she likes to take a walk outdoors near her longtime home in Tesuque, New Mexico. Walking is my meditation, she says. Forty-five minutes of gratitude for all I have been given.

It's a long way from Hollywood, but Ali, 83, is comfortable with that. She's traveled far to get here. After an enviable rise with her role as a doomed newlywed in 1970's Love Story, she endured failed marriages, bad reviews and a stint in the Betty Ford clinic before finding her bliss out of the public eye. I don't want to be hip anymore - thank God! says Ali, who confesses she was a slow learner at finding self-esteem from within. It's really a symptom of the disease called I'm-only-somebody-if you're looking-at-me, she says.

Ali's pueblo-style home lies at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.