OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK AND OPRAH.COM LAUNCH
OPRAH’S THANK YOU GAME ON FACEBOOK TO SPREAD
GRATITUDE AROUND THE WORLD
Oprah’s Lifeclass: the Tour Finale Discusses Mastering the Art of Gratitude Tonight, Monday April 30 (8-10 p.m. ET) on OWN (Canada)
(April 30, 2012 – Toronto, Canada) OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Oprah.com announced today the launch of Oprah’s Thank You Game on Facebook facebook.com/OWNCanada to spread gratitude around the world in an effort to thank half a billion people worldwide. The game launches in conjunction with the season finale of Oprah’s Lifeclass: the Tour airing tonight (Monday, April 30 at 8 p.m. ET) where Oprah discusses mastering the art of gratitude.
OWN has partnered with world-renowned alternate reality game designer Jane McGonigal, PhD, developer of SuperBetter, who created and designed an interactive way to encourage and display gratitude. McGonigal’s research on the science of social networks and the contagious nature of gratitude shows that one properly executed “thank you” can reach up to 258 people. Players will be educated on how to find the benefit, acknowledge the effort and spot the strength when making a thank you, then encouraged to share their success on OWN and Oprah’s Facebook pages by clicking the “I Said Thank You” button to visually see how many people around the world are participating in expressing gratitude through heat map technology.
A daily challenge will post via OWN’s Twitter and will be available on the Oprah’s Thank You Game Facebook app including, “Thank” someone who gave you an opportunity, someone who is having a hard day, someone who wouldn’t expect it, or someone you’ve known a really long time. Players can share in the conversation on Twitter using @OWNCanada or #ThankYouGame. Other elements include “What’s New” blog posts and “Gratitude Secrets” where users can discover the 12 secrets of gratitude. Players also have the option to enter their email address for the chance to receive a personal thank you from Oprah Winfrey.
Please join #OWNAmbassadors for Oprah’s Lifeclass finale tonight Monday April 30 at a location near you! Don’t see one..start your own and tell us where and we’ll post it for you!
Burlington, Ontario, hosted by @nada0971 Coffee Culture 1960 Appleby Line @7:30pm EDT
Ottawa, Ontario, hosted by @pranganathan at Lieutenant’s Pump British Pub 361 Elgin Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada @ 7:30pm EDT
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, hosted by @sandyabrams Shade Hotel-1121 N. Valley Dr. @5pm PST
Chicago, Il hosted by @momonashoe @kilwinschicago Kilwin’s Chicago-1405 North Wells Chicago Il 60610 @7pm C
Austin, Tx hosted by @GrowingOWN Java Dive Organic Coffee Shop 900 Ranch Road 620 SOUTH Lakeway, TX 78734 @7:00pm C
Washington, DC hosted by @OWNViewers Busboys and Poets- 5TH & K 1025 5th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 @7:30 EST
Other #OWNAmbassadors Twitter Captains tweeting from home and must be followed are:
@soulstoriesca @CNDOWNViewers @TheDailyOwn @Widowinthecity @Joy_rizing @TheWhirlingBlog @jewelchic @mybestlifecoach @LizKinnell @OnMyOWNWorld @mistygirl77 @justinmcarey @SpontaneSmiley
and of course follow @Oprah @OWNTV @OWNCANADA
see you all tonight for Oprah’s LifeClass Finale from Toronto, Canada!
Please bring your smart phones, iPads, and laptops to tweet and Facebook while watching. It will be streamed via oprah.com on facebook! Hope to see you there!
If you missed Oprah’s Next Chapter where Oprah travelled to India last week you won’t want to miss it this Sunday April 29, 2012. Oprah once again showed us a world outside of our own. She showed us that no matter where you live as parents, our dreams and hopes for our children are all the same.
The colors of India were spectacular. Watch this exclusive webisode as Oprah’s designer drapes her in a Sari. Now one of her favorite things to wear.
Tune into Oprah’s Next Chapter tonight as Oprah introduces us to the women of India. For times in your area go to the Canadian OWN Schedule.
Remember while you are watching tweet with us and thousands of OWN Ambassadors. You can find us on twitter CanadasOWNViewers You can also follow Oprah as well as OWNCanada and so many more.
A few weeks ago I received an email from OWN Canada, inviting me to the Fairmont RYH for a Tea Party with them. Well, can I just say that after picking my jaw up off the floor and reading the email over multiple times, slowly realizing that it was real, I did the happy dance of all happy dances! I must say, I am becoming quite the expert on the Happy Dance. Thinking I should put out a youtube clip on the How To’s of a Successful Happy Dance!! Ellen will be calling me in no time!
After rsvp’ing YES, rather quickly might I add, I sat with this piece of knowledge for a little while, wondering, no, wishing, no, dreaming that any of my fellow OWN Ambassadors also received such an email. I began to reach out to a few of them and before I knew it, we were all rejoicing!! For they were also siting in front of their laptops, ipads, blackberry’s, reading the exact same email. I thought, could this be? Is this really happening? YES was the answer, loud and clear!!
The excitement was already building with Oprah and Lifeclass happening the day after this blessed Tea Party was to take place. This was just the icing on the delicious mouth watering cake…I’m thinking Red Velvet.
So, on Sunday April 15th, 2012, myself, along with some new found friends began our OPRAH - OWN weekend together, embarking on a journey that would forever be cemented into our hearts and minds, imprinting on one another.
Words can’t even express just how magnificent the entire day was. Not only was I about to enjoy a masterfully assembled tea party, trimmed with soothing tea and delectable foods, which by the way, the little puff pastry swans were almost to pretty to eat. You did notice I said almost right? And I can’t forget about the champagne, Oh Lord the champagne!! Aside from all of that, I was able to meet face to face some of the most caring, loving and extraordinary people I have ever met. Through Twitter I have had the utmost privilege to meet and now be part of the OWN Ambassadors. It’s no lie, no exaggeration when I say that this group of people are the real thing. Many different backgrounds, different walks of life, all brought together by one common denominator. Oprah and our love and support of OWN.
During tea, we were able to meet so many intriguing people. Each person from the OWN Canada girls, Corus Entertainment folks, fellow bloggers, Fairmont RYH staff and everyone in between made this twinkle in time one that I shall remember for the rest of my days. It was a true moment, one that my heart will always hold on to. A few times, it was brought to my attention that I was pretty quiet during the afternoon. It’s because there was so much to experience, so much to feel. My cup runneth over, and it still does for being included in a day that will now go down in OPRAH – OWN history. And I was part of it!
With still many of my fellow OWN Ambassadors that we didn’t have the opportunity to hug in person, the small group of us there didn’t waste anytime coming together and showing the love. Right from the first moments our eyes recognized each other, I felt such acceptance. It really filled my heart. Thank you for making an already remarkable day, absolutely stupendous!!
What a day it was. I found myself humming Oh Happy Day for the rest of the evening. After we began to part for the night, as everyone was exhausted from the days excitement and events, the anticipation for Oprah’s Lifeclass was beginning to build. That very next day, one of my dreams was about to come true. Something to cross off my Bucket List. Something that I knew would happen was about to, because that was what my Vision Board had told me. I was about to see Oprah, live and in person. Dreams do come true!!
Tune in next time guys and gals. I will give you my Aha’s and each exhilarating moment in between about my experience with Oprah – OWN in Toronto!! Life changing stuff for Authentically Misty!!
Take care lovies!
Misty
xo
When Oprah gave us a trip to Australia she also gave us Forever Friends. Each year the 302 Ultimate Viewers have a Ultimate Day “O” Service where we give back in honor of Oprah. This year it is will take place on May 26. Farrah one of our Ultimate Viewers suggested this amazing charity this year. Little Dresses For Africa
Little Dresses For Africa is a non profit organization who provides dresses for children in Africa. Simple dresses are made out of pillow cases, and distributed through the orphanages, churches and schools in Africa to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy!
Typically, pillow cases are collected, a sewing party is held, and the dresses are sorted, packaged, and mailed off to the organization. Then, they ship them off to Africa. However, Farrah explained what we are doing with UDOS and they said that they would be willing to accept the pillow cases if we don’t have time to sew them.
1. Start promoting the donation drive in your community, church, school. Get your kids involved.
2. Collect the pillowcases between May 1-25. *Note: Collect monetary donations for shipping costs, if possible.
3. On May 26, count the pillow cases you collected and report your numbers, so we can get a grand total. Email Liz liz@canadasownviewers.com
4. You can hold a sewing party if you’d like (sewing directions are on the website), or simply ship the pillow cases on May 26 to: Finished items and shipping donations can be sent to: 24614 Curtis Drive, Brownstown, MI 48134 Checks can be made out to “Little Dresses for Africa.”
*Note: The organization often hurts for money to cover shipping costs (approximately $40 domestic and $130 international to ship a box of 100 dresses), so see if you can collect money from people who don’t have a pillowcase to donate. Hopefully, we can cover the cost to send it to the organization, as well as the cost for the organization to send them to Africa.
For instructions on how to make the dress please click here: Instructions
To visit the UDOS web page and see how we have given back please click here: UDOS
Like UDOS on Face book UDOS
Please keep track of how many dresses you have made and sent and email Liz@canadasownviewers.com with the total so we can include your total in our total.
Thank You for helping us give back in honor of Oprah.
I know…either you love the “O” or you are sick and tired of her. What am I? I’m the former. I watched her shows sporadically over the last twenty five years, but in her last year I was absolutely hooked. Is she a genuine teacher? A skilled marketer? A cult leader? Regardless of what your opinion is, I don’t think you can argue that Oprah has built success on a consistent platform: that is to make each of us live a better, more fulfilled life. I am all for that, especially since I’m currently on that journey to try and find this “utopia”. And many of her lessons have helped me along the way.
Oprah’s Lifeclass in Toronto seemed like an utterly incredible idea – really?? I managed to get four tickets for the afternoon show – it didn’t matter who else was joining her, I just wanted to be in the presence of the Queen and hear the words of wisdom come from her live, not from my TV. So Monday, April 16 could not have come soon enough. Until then, I kept my excitement under wraps and purposely avoided all lifeclass shows so that I could be surprised. Day of though, you could not avoid news coverage of the crowds gathering outside of the Metro Convention Centre. Apparently fans started arriving at 4 am for the 9 am morning show. By 7:30 am, the queue wrapped all the way around to the CN Tower. I actually met someone tonight who was second in line for the 4 pm show and she got there just before 9 am…before the morning show even started. Wow, that is a long day! I knew I couldn’t last that long; I arrived at 1:30 pm and started my wait in front of the North Building doors. The line started to finally move just after 4 pm, quite a bit behind schedule. By the time we entered the hall, it was already half full. Honestly it was a bit of pandemonium inside, with 8,500 of us trying to secure a seat. But we sure all looked pretty in our bright colours! And yes, there were a few men there too.
Once most of us were all seated, it was like clockwork. Brett Wilson (Dragon’s Den) opened the show, encouraging us to continue to “plant the seeds of marketing & entrepreneurship”. That’s all I remember from his speech. He was an unexpected guest!
Then he introduced comedian and actress, Jessica Holmes (Royal Canadian Air Farce) as our MC for the day. She did a quick stand-up bit, with an hilarious imitation of Celine Dion. She was bang on, and boy…Jessica can sing!
Then it was time for each guest speaker to have the floor to themselves, prior to the live show. First up was world renown spiritualist, Deepak Chopra. I have certainly heard of him, but have never followed his teachings. He is extremely abstract and as much as I tried to keep my attention and absorb the wisdom, let’s just say I got lost after he said “hello”. This person’s tweet says it all for me: “so far, so confused. Deepak Chopra has used the words stardust, Jesus Christ, atoms, imagination, homeostasis.” But my main takeaway was: no matter what the challenge is, S.T.O.P. : S – stop, T – take three breaths, O – observe, P – proceed.
Next up was inspirational author, Ivanla Vanzant. I had seen coverage of her falling out with Oprah, her slippage into bankruptcy, the reunion between her and Oprah. Her teachings or style have never resonated with me…but boy was I blown away by her first session. She engaged the crowd by entering the room at the back, while energetic dance music was pumping in the background. This definitely got the crowd going (unfortunately she didn’t walk by our section). She was very charming and funny on stage; humble enough to pick fun at herself too. Sorry no photo; I enjoyed her talk too much! My main takeaways? 1) Affirm your vision – “I am…”, 2) Clarify your vision & never judge this clarity against the response of others (do it for you), 3) Know how to achieve your vision. Lastly, be still and listen…for the instructions instead of begging and pleading for direction. Be still…and listen.
Then came life catalyst Tony Robbins. Initially I didn’t think he was going to be my cup of tea, recalling cheesy infomercials from years ago and a rah-rah-in-your-face approach. But man, he can get you pumped and energized – he had us all on our feet at one point. His talk was the most structured, in that he had a very short simple chart to back his main points. But I loved it…so much so that I forgot to take a picture. Thanks to my friend for taking the shot above! My main takeaways? 1) Build a proven & effective strategy, 2) Change your story so that you stop justifying why you haven’t achieved your strategy, and 3) Be aware of your state, and re-frame so that you can achieve. His secret to an effective relationship? Do what you were doing in the beginning, and keep doing it!
Last came Bishop T. D. Jakes. I have never heard of him and was extremely worried he would be very preachy. Certainly he was included to impart a religious perspective? Unfortunately during this portion, I was very distracted by another attendee who needed medical attention (she kept saying loudly “I am feeling sick. May the lord have mercy on me.” like a broken record). She refused to speak to a fellow attendee who was a doctor, but the paramedics came and took her away. I hope she is OK, I digress…his main messages? He actually had some goodies, and some weird ones too – thanks to Twitter, I was able to capture the gaps in my notes. Good: 1) Maximize your life and reserve your energy for your highest and best use, 2) Stop giving your power away to other people, 3) Don’t expect others to give you what you should be giving yourself. Weird: Be pregnant with ideas…if you are feeling pain, then the baby is coming!
That wrapped up the first portion of the Lifeclass tour…and thus is the end of the first part of my blog. Overall, this first portion was excellent, and completely worth the ticket price. I am still absorbing all of the words of wisdom but I have tried to capture what I thought were the most thought provoking “nuggets” from each guest speaker – ones that resonated with me the most.
I will continue the re-cap of the event in a second post – in the mean time, for those of you who attended and feel that I have missed out on some other key learnings, please add them to the comments! I’d love to hear your perspective…
You can read more of Adrienne’s journey to LifeClass on her blog Fabulously Average You can also follow her on Twitter
OPRAH DREAMING COMING TRUE
So here we go, I was told from a woman of great wisdom Janet Auty-Carlisle (mybestlifecoach) before writing to start with the one thing that came to mind. First thing that sprung to mind was DREAM. Starting from Friday April 13 2012, leading to Monday April 16 2012 it was all that and more than a DREAM. All I kept thinking to myself be “I can’t believe I am here”. I always knew dreams were ours to make come true; to actually live in it was more than proof to me as well as others around me. Right now, right here I must say to everyone, never give up on what you believe in as well as what you dream. If you can think it, see it, and then it’s there for you to live it. As you all know I’ve been a widow for 11 months, which has led to start this blog for everyone out there who has become a widow/widower, to use my experiences to help others.
Friday April 13th was the start of a dream that I never gave up on, that I never stopped believing would come true. Friday was a day of over flowing gratitude. Thanks to my beautiful brother, all of what happened was due to him pushing me out of my comfort zone to a place where I truly shined. This was how our road trip started to Toronto; this is the reason why I float in the clouds to this day. I guess it’s time to tell what it was that made us travel to Toronto.
As I sat in my seat at the Tea Party looking around the room seeing it full of truly amazing people, it was to my realization just how far I have grown. Years ago I was not the same person I was right there in that moment. I was in such awe that I was sitting there with people of such great significance. That moment was when I realized my first A HA MOMENTS over the next day’s ahead. It was then I realized I was not at all out of my comfort zone, I WAS IN MY COMFORT ZONE. I had to make sure to take absolutely everything in, to absorb each along with every second of all that was around me. This is where I truly recognized that the road I’ve been on through grieving has opened up new doors to who I was, how traveling down this road has led me to so many new chapters of my life. In times of tremendous pain you can find the brightest of things if you allow yourself to find it. Losing your spouse you lose your life as well, its realizing the new life you build to open oh so many beautiful beginnings if you allow yourself to rise above the pain. So finding out later after the Tea Party the Toronto News was there, then leading to seeing myself on T.V was another many of moments I realized just how blessed that weekend truly was. After Tea some of us OwnAmbassadors spent supper together. Being in the presence with these people truly proved to myself this was exactly where I should be. Not ever meeting once before this in person you would of never guessed it by seeing how truly we embraced one another, through good conversation, to a lot of laughs. It all just flowed proving each of our lives was meant to cross paths, that we as well belonged to each and everyone’s life for a reason.
May I mention how I probably will through this entire story how my brother graciously spent his time walking the streets of Toronto doing his own thing alone, all due to the fact that he was simply there to allow me to attend this all? If not for him this dream would not be at all. Also to mention NO SLEEP was acquired through this all, as anticipation along with excitement built each day until Monday the 16th would finally be upon us.
Let me just say how my world here in Windsor Ontario was rudely disrupted in finding how fast paced as well as HUGE Toronto was and felt to me. Being in Windsor all my life led me to believe it was a big place to be, noticing there will always be a bigger, busier City out there in this world. This is where I realized that as bad as I may of felt out of my comfort zone, that I was truly in my comfort zone, that putting your fears to rest is how you then start to live out of your boundaries, sulking in your dreams. As being a person who always hid from her fears, seeing that person no longer exists was enough for me, then realizing it is through your fears you conquer your dreams was a confirmation of it all. That no longer I was who I was before, that grieving has led me to see all of this. If you know me then you know just how much I have grown. Oprah has been the teacher to all of this. In a way Oprah has been my teacher, my mentor, the wisdom behind what I’ve come to see I had all along. I just never listened to myself; I never took the time to hear what it was that I was meant to do. Thirty-four years later I found it, I’ve opened up to it all, losing my husband has led me to this. His gift to me was finding myself, finding my passion, my purpose that is the greatest gift of all to give anyone. So yes I suffered a great loss, yet it was his true unconditional love that has placed me here. It is through him I have found the courage to live my life to the fullest. It is also because of Oprah that I have opened my eyes truly; she is changing lives for the better around the world each as well as every day. Oprah is creating friendships of the truest in this world, becoming a smaller world as people unite together to form love, respect, along with bonds that will last a life time.
Monday would be soon upon us, sleep was nowhere to be found the night before, as I layed eyes wide open in huge anticipation. Having to start my day at 5:30am was nowhere near a problem to me after falling asleep at 4:00am. Attending the morning of Life Class meant an extra early start. Lack of sleep was no worries to me considering that day was the day I fought for so hard, for quite a long time. While awakening I thought of my husband, it was our wedding anniversary day as well. I knew in my heart it was of his love the reason I was there. It was his gift of believing in me so much that pushed me to strive for that all I wanted. His strong belief in me has projected through me very strongly. Our daughter with all her pure love gives me all the strength I need to strive for it all, to live our dreams and shine.
Excited to find out after thinking I would be the only OwnAmbassador attending morning class Julie as well would be attending morning class. This only confirmed how once something is meant to be everything else just falls in to place. Our morning was about to embark on something so amazing, such of a true blessing that even you all will agree. Something that put us all in a state of speechlessness and awe that happened along the way to Oprah’s Life Class. Reminding you all that this day was my wedding anniversary day, my husband I believe blessed us this day where ever he may have been. This is where I truly believe once you are where you are meant to be everything else just closes in, as putting pieces of a puzzle together. Chatting it up as well as much laughing we realize we were going the wrong way however for some reason not one ounce of stress entered our bodies. Just complete joy was all around us, nothing could shake us. This is when I noticed how once you are living your dreams that it never ends. Once you start to unfold your dreams is when the dreams become endless. My brother yet again planned to just hang around Toronto allowing me to live my dream, also being without ticket. As we come to say our good byes until later Julie strolled over to put her coffee in the garbage glancing at the mailbox next to the garbage, as I noticed the look on her face I approached her to find her jaw on the ground as she held on to a ticket for Oprah’s Life Class that stuck out of the mailbox. Looking at this ticket over and over again in pure shock we come to see that YES IT IS REAL, IT IS VALID, IT IS FOR MORNING CLASS. It was in that moment I think we realized just how the glorious of things do really happen. This allowed my brother to accompany us to Oprah’s Life Class, still as I type this I cannot believe how everything just fell into place as needed.
The next five hours were again a feeling as though I was in a dream, like I’ve felt multiple times over the two days of our trip, from Tea Party to Oprah’s Life Class. Deep-ak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Iyanla Vanzant, Bishop Jakes along with the one and only Oprah all took the stage right before my eyes. I sat in my seat wondering if I really was there, looking to the crowd that went on for aisles and aisles. Oprah’s beauty along with love shined brighter than the sun and all the stars together. This is where I am going to leave you all reading this in suspense until the next post, describing all of A HA MOMENTS, to tears, as well as Oprah along with her power housed team that spoke to another fellow widow in the audience. STAY TUNED YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT IS COMING NEXT AS A WIDOW I COULD NOT BELIEVE, IT WAS AS THOUGH THIS CLASS WAS PRIVATELY FOR ME AND EVERY WIDOW OUT THERE.
Dreams are ours for the making; we just have to be the ones to make them happen, to believe with everything in us that we can do it, that we can achieve the highest of all through anything. Big dreams don’t hold you back from achieving them; you do if you let fear take over.
To OwnAmbassadors I have met, you have touched my heart deeply, you all will remain in my heart always, and our bond is growing strong. To OwnAmbassadors I have yet to meet, you all as well are in my heart, our bond will continue to grow and one day we will meet that is for sure. OWN-OWNCANADA NOTHING TO SAY EXCEPT I LOVE YOU. OPRAH I thank you from the deepest of my heart and soul for truly loving us, for bringing your wisdom to the world to make a better, brighter place.
“India takes hold of your senses the moment you arrive and it never lets go.” – Oprah
I was thrilled when I heard that Oprah was traveling to India to film episodes of her weekly series Next Chapter on OWN, because I knew that she would bring the same reverence, precision, and evocative questioning that have been the hallmarks of her robust career to her exploration of India, its people, and its social structures.
I was also excited for Oprah to explore the paradox of India, the dichotomies of wealth and poverty, expansive urban populations and close-knit families, to unearth notions of its identity that are often eschewed in mainstream media in favour of rote categorizations. Oprah did not disappoint. In her first of two episodes in India, she revealed the paradox of India, shining a light onto stories, families, people, and experiences that otherwise would not have a voice. She shared not just one image but many ideas – complex, robust, changing, and magical. With over one billion people and a huge Diaspora worldwide, India is quite literally so many things to so many people.
The fact that Oprah was able, in such a short time, through Next Chapter – Part I, to capture pockets of insight into the many ways in which India comes alive in the world is truly remarkable. By using the analytic lenses of family and socio-economic status, Oprah’s work in this episode of Next Chapter was deeply insightful and highly revelatory in the lessons it unearthed about a) India and b) common linkages that connect us all to the human experience.
The Colaba District: Introducing Anchal
Oprah started her adventure by visiting the Colaba district in Mumbai, one of India’s largest and most heavily populated cities. The images of the slums, which many prefer to call “hutments”, are haunting, visceral and unforgettable.
In a particularly moving segment, Oprah met with a family of five who live in a small, one-room dwelling in the Colaba district where they all sleep in a row on the floor. Seated on the floor in the room, Oprah engaged the family in conversation about their life and dreams. The eldest daughter, Anchal, a bright student and joyful spirit, shared with Oprah her love of learning and dream of becoming a teacher. She expressed her sheer, unabashed joy of living her life with her family in their circumstances. In a moment of perfect you-can’t-pay-for-this-advertising, Anchal plugged Discovery TV as her favorite network.
Anchal’s father spoke movingly about his wish to have his children educated, recognizing, as Oprah has often said, that education is the pathway to freedom. He was moved to tears (and so was I) when he shared his fears and worries about his family’s future.
The segment was poignant in that, while it showed the impact of poverty in India, it also demonstrated that though viewers in Canada and the US may be separated geographically and financially from this family’s circumstances in India, we all shared a collective human experience in our longing for a better life for our families.
Furthermore, Anchal’s enthusiasm for life demonstrates the amazing capacity of children to teach us about what truly matters. She demonstrates an insight & understanding of the sacrifices her family has made for her education and is consciously, constantly grateful for the blessings in her life. That is the power of gratitude – turning seemingly unbearable circumstances into buoyant moments of warmth and possibility. Thank you Anchal for being an exceptional teacher. You are already living your dream.
The Samami Family and the Multi-Generational Family Experience: Arranged Marriage and Finger Foods
Oprah next visited the Samamis, a middle class family. There were four generations who all lived together in the same home. I watched with interest, because this is the story of my family in India as well. My grandmother lives with my aunt, my cousin, and my cousin’s daughter in one house. It is a four-generation matriarchy – the epitome of sister power.
Watching Oprah interact with the Samami family, it was interesting to see parallels to North American family life in the way the family gathers around the table at meal time. Plus, it allowed Oprah to experience her first traditional East Indian meal and eat with her hands, as is customary in India. [CONFESSION TIME: Growing up, eating with my hands was so normal that I could never eat with cutlery when my parents took me to restaurants as a child. I would fling food off the fork and onto myself before it reached my mouth.]
Over dinner, Oprah engaged the family in conversations about arranged marriage. It was fascinating to hear how love grew out of marriage instead of being the basis for marriage. These conversations resonated with me, because my own parents had an arranged marriage in 1972. They did not speak to one another until their wedding day and saw each other only once before, across a crowded room during their engagement ceremony, two weeks before they were married. After their wedding, my dad came back to Canada to continue work on his PhD and my mom joined him a year later. When she arrived in Canada, it was the middle of winter, and she had never before left India or her family. Imagine moving to a new land to meet your husband who you do not really know. I always marvel at their love story which flourished from and in their marriage. Next month marks their 40th wedding anniversary. 40 years strong in love.
Bollywood: Family and Celebrity
In this episode, Oprah also visited with Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan (son of famed Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan), film stars of Bollywood cinema, often referred to as the Brad and Angelina of India.
Abishek, Aishwarya and their new daughter live with Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya, demonstrating that joint families are not borne of financial necessity but rooted instead in a collective love for deep family roots and a reverence for the daily support of extended family. In her visit with the family, Oprah rocked a sari and shared how the paparazzi frenzy surrounding the Bachchans was surreal, unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life.
My India
For me, India has been a constant in my life. The birthplace of my history. The source of my family. The place where grandma lives. The geographic underpinning to my identity and core values.
India is found in my favorite foods, the music in my house, the curve of my nose, the fabric of my being.
Yet, at many levels, India has been a mystery to me – a veritable enigma wrapped in the cloak of the familiar. Being born and raised in Canada, visiting India once every few years, I have never fully grasped India in its many forms, in its beauty, complexity, and variety. During every visit, it still surprises me and manages to take my breath away.
Part I of Oprah’s Next Chapter in India painted a picture of India that is fluid, vibrant, textured, and beyond categorization, demonstrating that regardless of socio-economic status, history, or condition, everybody has a story and a voice that is worthy of respect and attention. Furthermore, the episode showed that though geography may separate us from India, shared experiences and common dreams unite us in a myriad of interesting, unexpected ways.
At the beginning of the episode, Oprah discusses how the greeting, Namaste, in India signifies an acknowledgment from the divine in you to the divine in others. We are all sparks of divinity. We all matter. The power of Namaste as a greeting and as a principle reminds me of the following verse from one of my favorite india.arie songs:
I wonder, I wonder if you really knew, that I see God in you
And I wonder if you can see, how much you mean to me
I know you cannot read my mind, but I hope you feel my vibe
I think it’s time I let you know that, I see the God in you
Thank you Oprah for the blessings of Next Chapter – Part I in India. We are so grateful to you, your team, and OWN TV for making such a long journey and for inviting us to see India through the eyes of the many people who call it home.
Namaste.
I think my first Sidney Poitier movie was “To Sir With Love“. I was mezmorized from that moment on. There is something special about Mr. Poitier. His acting ability has captured me. We all have our favorite Actors and he is by far one of mine. Actor, Director and best selling Author Sidney Poitier on Master Class is going to be Omazing.
I read both his books Measure of A Man and Life Beyond Measure and imagined his voice as I was reading. His voice is so distinct that when you hear it you know it’s him. In his books you get the opportunity to see his character in real life. He is a man of great character, integrity and charisma. Measure Of A Man shows you that his life was not an easy road. He shares his childhood memories and how he came to The United States. If you enjoy a good book I highly recommend both of his books, you will be glad you read them.
Sunday Night tune into OWN and OWN Canada to watch Master Class. It will be inspiring, this I know for sure.
