Why The Oprah Winfrey Show Inspired Me

Yes, I said it. Now, sit down, close your mouth, open your ears, head, eyes, heart... and Listen (and dance, of course!). As Oprah closes out the 25th season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," I thought I'd finally say my piece on this and people can take from it what they will.

Some of My Favorite Things (aka Things I've Learned from Watching The Oprah Winfrey Show):

- Maya Angelou (numerous appearances): "When people show you who they are, believe them." That means, if someone tells you they're crazy, believe them. If someone tells you they drink a lot, believe them. If someone tells you they're selfish or lazy or a jerk, believe them. I don't always remember to follow this, but it stuck with me and I've, in turn, repeated it to many people. A couple weeks ago, a non-Oprah-watching friend of mine told me that this had stuck for her after I'd said it to her and it helped her realize things about her relationship and she decided to get herself out of a bad situation. And just the other day, another friend repeated the same thing and I was like, "That comes from Oprah!!" I love how I've totally plagiarized stuff I've learned on Oprah, used it with friends who aren't really Oprah viewers, and they get to learn the lessons too.

- The bra show: This episode really did change my lingerie life and probably goes down on a lot of women's lists of most memorable Oprah shows. I upgraded my bra shopping from ye old Mervyn's (similar to Kohl's) to Nordstrom's and the like. I am now a devout follower of the Le Mystere demi t-shirt bra. And I know my correct size. The girls are much happier now and get to wear nice stuff.

- Tererai Trent episode: This woman from Zimbabwe wasn't allowed to be educated because she was a girl, was married off at 11, and had three children by the time she was 18. Eventually, she moved to the United States and completed a bachelor's. Then her husband was deported because of his continued abuse of her; a single mother of five, she completed her master's. A few years later, she completed her PhD. If this woman can do this, with all these challenges, my privileged butt has absolutely no excuses. Get. This. Done.

- The girls in Oprah's South Africa school: One of the girls, Lesego, had such an exuberant personality and was so, just, with it, even as a teenager. I was impressed by how powerful, wise, and smart people (especially girls) can be. I put a quote from her in the "Words to Live By" section on the sidebar of this blog. She said, "You're an individual. Act like an individual. Don't try to blend in. Blend out!" That is one powerful dose of self-confidence and I'm excited for her future. I can only see her doing something amazing. 

- Suze Orman episode looong ago: You can never, ever know enough about personal finance. Really, seriously, ever. Sadly, a lot of smart people I know, they don't know so much. Smart people with lots of degrees and work experience and job responsibility. I guess it's intimidating to come at when you've never really learned about it before. I had a great foundation set for me with what my dad taught me and I refined it with some of the stuff that Suze Orman talks about. She's an acquired taste, but if you're ready and willing to learn, don't worry so much about what she's like as a person (you don't have to be her friend!), just pay attention to what she has to teach you about the fundamentals of personal finance. I have, on several occasions, used what I learned from watching Suze Orman's PBS special for young professionals to help friends figure out their credit cards, open/use various banking and retirement accounts, juggle my own personal finance situation (freelancer over here!), etc.

- 20,000 person flash mob: Oh. Mah. Gah. This was one of the coolest things I've seen on TV ever!!! And it was a total surprise to Oprah! Dance, the Black-Eyed Peas, and a surprised Oprah--it's like it was custom-designed for me to love. ;) Still gives me goosebumps and makes me want to get up and dance when I watch it. Here's how they made it happen, in case you're curious (I was!).

- Kevin Aucoin makeup episode: This man was a famous makeup artist, openly gay in a time when people were still getting used to that in a national forum, and just seemed really nice. And he did great things with makeup, thought all women were beautiful in some way, and told us how we could accentuate that. So I got his book. Sadly, he died in 2002.




There are surely many, many more, but I can't think of them all. These ones have stuck in my memory without doing too much digging, so I guess they're really the standouts for me. 

It's never a bad thing to have greater perspective, tolerance, and love for the other people we share this globe with. It's also fun to be able to share in other people's happiness--how can you not smile when you watch Oprah give away something, be it a car or a vacation or a house or, most touchingly, an education? (FYI, 64,688 people have been educated through Oprah's foundation. Biiiiig like!) Don't you smile when you see people receive gifts or kindness in every day situations? And it's special to be allowed to share in people's sorrow, troubles, grief, and triumph.

I know it's de rigeur to make fun of Oprah and people who like/love/idolize/worship her. I know that people get hung up on the touchy-feely, mumbo jumbo they think she/her show spouts and stuff like Tom Cruise jumping up and down on the couch is a stand-out moment.* But, for me, her show is more about the lessons I learned about how to be the best version of myself... and there's always going to be something new to learn.

Oprah started out for me as just a fun show to watch in the afternoons after school (hello, Bra Revolution and makeover shows!), but, probably in the last ten years or so, morphed into something that offered a little more substance and guidance--a little more meat, you could say.

The final episode was what Oprah called "a love letter" to the viewers. It started out a little lecture-y; at first, I was like, "Is this it for the whole hour? Bummer." Pretty soon though, I was thinking, "Oh, I need to write that down... Hey, that's exactly what I needed to hear... Yes! Service is important!," and so on. Of course I teared up at the end, but I didn't go into the ugly cry. The Oprahgasm continued the next day with tons of shows and news. And I'll get to watch the "best of" episodes all summer long. And, as people keep pointing out, there's now OWN.

So, happy trails, Oprah; I can't wait to see what's next. As my grandpa would say, ya did good. :)

*Tom Cruise and the couch incident, by the way, was not even in the least the weirdest show I've ever seen on Oprah. You wanna see surreal/bizarre/odd/huuuh/whhaaaaa? Try to track down the Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield show. Now, that was bizarre. These two huge guys that could barely fit in their chairs were practically declaring undying, high-pitched love for each other.

p.s. Here's a great list of "25 Things Oprah Taught the World." I would just add that a lot of what she taught us was stuff she herself learned from everyday people who did extraordinary things. And if that isn't a big go-do-something-meaningful-with-your-life kick in the pants, I don't know what is.