Getting My Opes On

Here are a couple of things I am aware of:

1. This post is way past timely and you are probably sick of the tributes and tearful farewells at this point. 
2. There are many other topics of more worth to write about than a talk show host.

But, as this is my blog, I get to write about what I want when I want.  So there.  

I'll love you forever if you keep reading :)

Oprah's gone.  She's dunzo. No longer will she grace our television screens in the afternoons, making celebrities visibly uncomfortable or cry by asking the tough questions, and turning well mannered, middle aged women into blubbering, screaming idiots over cars and trips to Australia.  Dammit I'm going to miss her.

In one of her farewell surprise shows, Dakota Fanning showed up with a group of young ladies known as the "Oprah Show Babies."  It was one of my favorite moments of the show.  That was me up there- the little girl that said Oprah taught her to love to read, the older girls that learned about taking care of themselves, forgiveness and coping with abuse.  All of that was me.  I am an Oprah Show baby.

"Your voice has been the soundtrack of our lives.  Every milestone, every first, you were there."  I often say Oprah is my t.v. mom.  I was sort of a latch key kid-- I'd get home before everyone else and it'd just be me, the dog, and an empty house.  For many years, mostly in Jr. High, I didn't like myself very much.  I didn't feel safe, and when left alone in a house with nothing to do but sit in the silence, it got a little scary.  So I'd turn on Oprah.  She'd talk to me, tell me to take control of my destiny, tell me to honor my worth, and tell me what I should be asking for Christmas.  Oprah would say everything I wished my own mother would've said to me.  I love my mom, but we're just not big communicators in my family.  But we're getting better.  Oprah taught me to be a communicator.

As the years went on, the 4 pm time slot grew a little more difficult to catch as my school activities grew and my homework load strengthened.  Even now, I wouldn't even say I watched her everyday, or even every week.  So as the world prepared to say it's goodbyes to her, I started to wonder why I was having such an emotional response- why it was so sad to say goodbye to a woman I'd never met but felt knew me so deeply.  Aside from suspicions that I might be insane, here's what I came up with:

I don't think any of us can deny that being a woman in this world and keeping a healthy view of ourselves is difficult.  We are constantly surrounded by women that abandon their intelligence and self worth to obtain some sort of notoriety.  Oprah, on the other hand, has shown us that intelligence, compassion and kindness are, in fact, qualities needed to achieve success.  And she was there, everyday at 4 o'clock, sharing that message over and over and over again.  It's difficult to say how much I appreciate and needed that.

I hadn't realized how much Oprah had impacted me and my outlook on life and the world until I sat down this week to think about her impending absence.  Technically, she's in the business of entertainment and t.v.  But I think it's deeper than that.  Oprah is in the business of people.  She learns people's stories and shares them with the world.  The more I look at my own the life, I've realized this is the exact path I've decided to take.  On paper, I want to be a psychologist that writes novels in her spare time.  But what this really means is I want to sit down with people, learn where they're at in life, help them find redemption in their dark places.  And I want to tell their stories.  Actually, I want to help them tell their own stories.  I believe in the power of narration, the empowering sense of sharing something personal with someone else.  It's about faith and trust and acknowledging that you are significant enough to share things and to be heard.  That's how we enter into community with each other.  And without community, we'd all just be sad 13 year olds coming back from a difficult day of school to an empty house with no one to talk to but a lady on t.v.

So here's to Oprah.  For keeping us company when we were lonely, teaching us to value ourselves, hold one another in compassion, and believe in the power of a story.  Cheers!

How has Oprah impacted you and how are you coping with the void she's left in day time television?