Saying Goodbye to Oprah

-Oprah - Mike Joos linedraw.etsy.com http://mikejoosart.blogspot.com









I will admit that for many years I worshipped at the Church of Oprah. I watched the show religiously from the very fist week it aired, and like any true acolyte, I appropriated pretty much everything she offered: quotes, belief systems, world view, etc., as my own. At that early point in my life, I needed Oprah. Maybe a little too much. I was young, unmoored, searching for answers to the questions my life was asking. She asked the questions I wanted to ask, exposed the underbelly, and showed us our possibilities. She loved books and reading and writers. She interviewed writers at a time when I was starting to think it just might be okay to think that I could be a writer.

Her daily presence, consistent voice, the interviews, segments, articles, all helped me through a really messy marriage, an even messier divorce, single parenting, another marriage, stepchildren, balancing work, family, aging parents, figuring out what I want to do with my life.

I've been very thin and not so thin. Oprah's weight struggles have been more that a little comforting. I eat flax seed because of her. I say "authentic" because of her. I think about what my "best life" could be because of her. I think about my "divine dissatisfaction" all the time, and I am finally, finally taking steps toward my passion, and at this time in my life beginning to "dream a bigger" life than I've allowed myself. Just recently I've considered "stepping out of my history" a real possibility.

I like to think that Oprah and her audience growed each other up. To be completely honest, I have received much more from her than from therapy, and she was WAY less expensive. Back when she first aired, I clung to her show to guide me through the tangle of my life, to understand, possibly forgive, what I'd done, what had been done to me, what I hadn't done.

That was then, this is now. My life is still asking questions, I'm still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up and how to really serve my purpose. I still watch the show, but it's no longer a life line. I have my own voice, belief systems, my way of being in the world. Even so,I pay attention to what she says, what she's doing, watch the OWN network, and have found the masterclass segments invaluable. Just last night I watched her master class and realized I didn't know a thing about her own history. It's remarkable that I never felt the need to know the details of her life, but I feel the same about my real time friends. They come into my life and I don't know who they were, just who they are.

Although I no longer worship everyday at 4 P.M., over the years I've tried to watch as much as I could. For the last few years I've spent almost every afternoon at coffee with my father, but not today. Today I will be watching the final show, and I'm certain I will cry.

I am grateful to Oprah for the force of nature she is, for the positive force she continues to be.

Mighty Maggie Mason of mightygoods had the good fortune to attend the final episode and reported her impressions of the Oprahpaloosa last episodes, as well as her own personal words of gratitude. In addition to the images on Mason's blog, check out the ThanksOprah posts on flicker.