Why hello, Ms. Winfrey. Come right in.
They'd better hurry up.
Although I have yet to receive my exclusive, one of only 1,000,000,000 copies on the planet, special-edition journal, I am a very active member of Oprah’s Lifeclass. I’m talking videos, webcasts, TV show, online diary … all of it.
It started a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been doing my best to stay on top of the work. I’m not caught up on everything - seriously, who can take on an hour of emotional growth five nights a week plus twice on Fridays? - but I have watched a lot and my life outlook has definitely evolved since we started.
On the Lifeclass TV show, Oprah uses her greatest, life changing moments from her Oprah show to shape her teachings, and a lot of those have to do with her making surprise visits. She’s shown up at people’s work, surprised them in their father’s pizza joints, and in one clip, she sent a camera crew to this woman’s house - her crowded, broken furniture filled, chaotic mess of a house. I’ve loved every other moment of class, but that particular episode terrified me a little.
Holy shit. What would I do if Oprah just showed up at our house?
I looked around and the place was in decent shape, cleanliness-wise, but there was a good amount of crap lying around. There were some almost, but not quite, dehydrated lemons in a bowl on the table, dirty dishes in the sink, and the floor hasn’t been swept in, well, a while. I was so not ready for Oprah.
When I realized that, I thought, “Well, why not? What makes Oprah so special that she deserves to see a better version of my house than I do? Why should the counters be cleaner for her once-in-a-lifetime visit than they are for me and Erica on a daily basis?”
Don’t we deserve to live in a place that’s up to Oprah standards? Aren’t we worthy of dust-free shelves?
In that moment, I decided to always be Oprah Ready (you know, as soon as I got a chance to clean up). Now, I don’t mean in any crazy, militant way where everything has to be pristine and perfect at every moment. More in that I want to drop my, “Who cares? It’s just us,” attitude when it comes to how we maintain things on a regular basis. Cleaning the toilet doesn’t have to be reserved for special occasions. The fact is, life feels better when the dishes are done and all of our shoes are put away.
So, I’m on an Oprah Ready mission and, if Oprah does show up, all the better. Actually, maybe living Oprah Ready can make it happen like in “Field of Dreams” … if I clean it, she will come.
I’ll let you know if that works out.
October 28th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
You don’t know how glad I am to read this post. Please send your mailing address (private message that I PROMISE to enter into my actual address book) I have something for you and e:)…….god forbid, you had to flush when Oprah stops by.
October 31st, 2011 at 10:13 am
LOUDEST. TOILET. EVER.