living oprah?

Yesterday on the way to volunteer at the local library, i heard an article on NPR where a woman named Robyn is dedicating a year of her life to "living Oprah." I groaned inwardly, assuming this was another celebrity-wannabe moment, but man was I ever wrong. I listened to the interview, and confess that i was impressed by Robyn's vision and by Michele Norris' questions. Serendipitously, I have in the past few months found myself secretly attracted to the Oprah craze. I like what she has to say about living better, more meaningful lives, the lives we think we should have, and in fact are often within our reach. So Robyn's attempts to put Oprah to the test were fascinating. Oprah's site is my only real source of Oprah, as you can't pick up even PBS in our area without a satellite dish, and that's where i found an article that was so good, i posted a tidbit of it (with my own commentary, of course). When I visited Oprah's site today, i discovered that she and her friend Bob Greene have decided to issue a challenge to people to live the lives they imagine. I wanted to sign up, but then realized it's all about weight loss, the single area of my life that actually doesn't need any improvement. Go figure. But there has been the continuing stuff-purge going on, and I haven't really done much since last weekend (bad heidis). Tonight I should take some of the bins and go in Graeme's room, even if i do nothing more than pick up everything on the floor and toss it summarily into a bin, it would be an improvement. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea, and something i can likely accomplish in 30 minutes. I've been so overwhelmed by the whole stuff-issue that I gave myself a thirty minute limit: i can only take on a task that takes thirty minutes or less. Even if i decide to go on to another one, i need to take a break in-between them, sit down, have a resting moment. Baby steps. Can I have a margarita while i do it? Honestly, I feel lost in my personal life right now, though that's nothing new for July. What I do know is that as in-between, neither-here-nor-there as July always feels for me, somehow things always seem to solidify in September and October. I don't know if it's just the social training of the school schedule or what, but it seems that however I get to the Autumnal equinox, it is somehow indeed balancing. By the time the pumpkin carving comes around, I feel more myself, and as though the path ahead of me is clear. This year I'm trying to make the most of the July fourth - Halloween limbo by setting up a framework to make the coming year as simple and uncluttered as I can. It's all about possibilities.