In the interviews I’ve been blessed to have with Oprah, we seem to enter what I would call the “One Conversation,” the one ongoing story of how we spend our time on earth. All our lives contribute to this conversation. All our stories contribute to the one ongoing story. Let me share some reflections on where that conversation has been taking me.
I keep returning to the ever-present riddle, that being who we are is the necessary adventure. It unlocks everything, not because our self is so important but because our essential nature that our self carries is the immediate doorway to everything that is life-sustaining. We learn early on that being who we are means fending off unwanted influence without cutting ourselves off from the chance to learn from others. Regardless of the culture we are born into, it isn’t long after we arrive that everyone starts pointing and telling us where we need to be and what we need to do to get there. There’s no time to really ask why. Soon, things happen and we are thrown off course and now there’s all this effort to win their approval, no matter who “they” are. If lucky, love will distract us more than suffering. If blessed, we are broken of everyone’s plans and regrets and thrown like a hooded bird into a sea of light. If trusting the fall, we find our wings.
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