Hi guys,
As I highlighted a bit earlier today, when I talk about my ‘Oprah experience’ I have to pinch myself to believe it actually happened however, I learnt so much about myself in the run up to the experience and the actual shows, that I wanted to share my story.
Ultimately, it came dangerously close to never happening - I've written a bit about this but do scroll to the videos below if you're feeling keen and can't wait! ;-)
If I’d dismissed sending a tweet because ‘why bother? It would never happen to me’, well, it wouldn’t have happened to me! It has made me look at taking chances in a totally different way i.e. now I do it all the time because the thought of missing out gives me the shivers!
This story starts with me eating my lunch and checking Twitter at work one day in April 2012.
I have long been a fan and a follower of Oprah and have loved her philosophy and delivery of ‘Living your best life’ across all of her programming whether that’s in developing your spiritual side or just eating well. (You may have even experienced me having a ‘What would Oprah do moment?’ when I’m feeling a bit stuck!)
Her story is one of the most inspirational and motivating things you’ll ever read and so for me there’s never been any doubt as to why her unique ‘Oprah-ness’ has led her to be hailed as the most influential woman of her generation (Life magazine) or ranked top of Forbes 100 list of the World’s most powerful celebrities. You get the gist – I have a lot of love for this lady!
With this in mind I had been following many of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) programmes on Twitter as I’d particularly enjoyed ‘Oprah’s Life Class’ and how it had reinforced my spiritual awakening and intention to lead a more mindful, conscious and grateful life.
…So when I saw a tweet from Oprah’s Life Class asking for feedback from International viewers I was quick to click. After filling out the form I forgot about it and felt good that I’d been potentially useful in giving my view.
Then, one Friday, I got a call from an unidentifiable number and to my face-palm-drop-down-breathe-into-a-paper-bag-surprise it was a HARPO producer
... She wanted to hear more about me and what I enjoyed about Life Class. She also mentioned some up-coming shows and asked if any of the topics sounded like they rang a bell and ‘Having hard conversations’ was definitely one I was keen to ‘tool up’ and improve on.
Then followed a number of Skype conversations with the HARPO team and to my delight I was invited to take part in the show as a Skype guest dialling into the studio where I was asked to prepare a question for Oprah and her additional guest power house Iyanla Vanzant. It was amazing to get to speak to them and hear their perspective on my question around ‘How to have a difficult conversation’:
Following the appearance on that show I was invited back for two more shows. One of which involved me opening up about an experience when I felt insecure because I was comparing myself to others at a school reunion. I was really nervous and a bit embarrassed to lay my soul bare but, hey, I’m human and ‘when you know better, you do better!’ This show was amazing in driving home that we are each responsible for our own lives!
In this clip about why women compete, I come in around 1 minute 30 seconds:
I hope this answers a bit of the ‘Oprah intrigue’ created on the About Me page of this site and that you’ve enjoyed the perspectives shared by Oprah and Iyanla.
The moral of the story is – if you see an opportunity, even if it feels out of reach then go for it. In some way take action to realise that opportunity because the results could be that your dreams come true, like mine did!
I never in my life would have imagined I’d have the chance to speak to Oprah and when she said my name it felt like an out of body experience. But it wasn’t. It happened. I made it happen. And if I hadn’t clicked on that tweet it would have passed me by!
I’m a really strong advocate of Life Class and would recommend it especially if you’re up for understanding more about how you think and feel, or if you want to advance your spiritual discovery. With this in mind, as a final little dessert to this blog piece I’d like to share a couple of my very favourite films from the Oprah’s Life Class site:
The first lesson is titled: ‘When People Show You Who They Are, Believe Them’:
The second video I wanted to share is about ‘How to give and receive positive karma’ and who doesn’t want a bit more of that?!":
I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down my 'memory lane' guys and thanks so much for all your encouragement and interest in this amazing experience - if you have any further burning curiosities then please let me know!
Love Lucy xx