Salute to Lady 'O'

It’s tough saying goodbye to someone who has graced your living room for the past 25 years. But that choice wasn’t ours – it was hers. I’m talking about Oprah Winfrey. Yesterday, Lady ‘O’ did her last show – her ‘blog’ to her millions of viewers – a testament of a life well lived. She told us to find our platform, our purpose, then go out and do it! She’s right. The world would be a better place if we all listened to our hearts.

About 15 years ago, my heart started ‘speaking’ to me. Quietly, at first, then it got louder. “You can write”, it said. At first, I didn’t believe it. Then, the Universe showed me ways to learn. A course on planning your novel, followed by a course on writing your novel, plus many how-to books on writing gave me the basics. Slowly, I learnt how to write a book. It took me about three years from seed idea to a final product. But that wasn’t the end of it. Rewrites, proofing, more rewrites, more proofing, letting it simmer for a while, then more rewrites and proofing. Finally, I decided to have the book professionally edited. It was the best money I’ve ever spent.

This whole process taught me about being professional. About giving my best, and being true to myself. It’s one thing to listen to the whispers of your heart. It’s quite another to prepare yourself for what your heart is suggesting. We make plenty of mistakes along our ‘Yellow Brick Roads’ (truthfully, there are no accidents), but as long as you keep learning, the better you will become.

Oprah has said many times over, ‘When you know better, you do better.’  

I plan to heed her advice. I hope you do too.