Thursday, March 8, 2018

Oprah and What She Knows for Sure

Oprah Magazine August 2017
Oprah was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night to talk about her new film A Wrinkle in Time. Naturally, Colbert was more interested in talking to her about whether she plans to run for President in 2010. She told him that she has a strong sense of herself, or something to that effect, and would know if that was something that she should do. So far, nothing. Colbert pressed and established that he heard that she was waiting for a sign from God. God, if you didn't know, lives in Colbert's studio and is a reoccurring comedy bit. Colbert made sure that God knew that Oprah was going to be on the show, and he showed up to make a plea to her to run for President.

I'm not so sure that running for President would be in Oprah's best interest, however, I don't think that it is a bad idea. Oprah has shown that she can attract a big audience, a really big audience. An audience that Trump could only dream to have. And if I'm not mistaken, hers was an audience that crossed states, color, economic, and every other level or difference that can only be represented by the U.S. I think that she could win with the power of her reach. Her brand only grows stronger ... someone at work thought that it might be a bad idea because it would expose the skeletons in her closet. I laughed out loud and said to the speaker, 'are you kidding me? She's exposed everything about herself on her show, in her appearances, in her magazine, and through Gayle.'

I was sorry that I never saw the taping of her show here in Chicago. But I continue to subscribe to her magazine. I don't love all of it, but there's enough in it each month to keep me interested. I've talked before of the no nonsense advice that Martha Beck gives readers, and I've found favorite things from Oprah's list. And sometimes, at the very end, she writes about what she knows for sure, and this one pictured gave me pause. I've carried it around for over six months. The theme: letting go. The message is not hers, it is Eckhart Toille's, but she brings it out for all of us to see. I'll transcribe the story of two Zen monks for you to consider:

"Tanzan and Ekido ... were walking along a country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep , it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and he carried her to the other side.

The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn't restrain himself any longer. "Why did you carry that girl across the road?" he asked. "We monks are not supposed to do things like that."

"I put the girl down hours ago," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

At the time that I read this, I was thinking of someone else for whom this story would resonate. And now, for me, it is a good reminder as I am presently working with a difficult co-worker and that I need to just let go of the stupid stuff that she says to me. But for all of this talk of Oprah running for President, what this tells me is that we have to back off Oprah! She said no, and we need to understand that asking her over and over again isn't going to change her mind. She has said up front that 'she knows for sure.' Let her know for herself. And hopefully, she might just surprise us.






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