Category Archives: Super Soul Sunday

Oprah and Ayana Mathis

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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After reading the first chapter of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,  Oprah knew she had found her second Book Club 2.0 pick. On yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, she sat down for an interview with author Ayana Mathis.

Ayana started by describing her experiences at the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Grateful for this opportunity to work with Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson and other up-and-coming writers, she talked openly about the hopes, dreams and frustrations that lie behind those hallowed walls. When she arrived at the workshop, she was working on another book, a fictionalized memoir. At one critique session, Robinson suggested that her characters were “insufficiently complex.” Ayana took the criticism to heart, had her ugly cry and then turned to writing short stories. Her first story was a hybrid of the first and last chapters of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.

Inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns, Ayana set her book against the backdrop of the Great Migration.  Starting around 1916,  over six million African Americans migrated north to escape the poverty and hardships of the south. The main character, Hattie Shepherd, is a strong but flawed woman who fiercely loves her eleven children but cannot demonstrate that love. While each chapter focuses on a different child, Hattie is the glue that holds the book together.

In writing this novel, Ayana wanted her readers to encounter a fully, fleshed out black humanity. To that end, she got into the soul of each character and spent as much time as possible in their minds.

When asked about her childhood, Ayana admitted that there was little money and she and her mother often lived in neighborhoods where they couldn’t afford to pay the rent. In spite of their limited circumstances, Ayana was given an enormous amount of freedom and chose her own life path.

Extremely grateful for the success of her debut novel, Ayana admits to being permanently stunned. She still thinks of the book as a Word document.

Quotable Quotes…

Our humanity means we don’t have to be completely defined by race.

We find companions and mirrors in literature.

There is an arc of human history that bends toward social justice.

Character development is a process cultivated over time. Reward comes from reworking.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

hatti2The novel opens on a positive note.

Hattie Shepherd and her newborn twins, Philadelphia and Jubilee, are dozing in the shade on the porch.  The scene is an idyllic one. “The neighborhood rang with birdsong. The twittering lulled the twins to sleep and put Hattie in such high spirits that she giggled all the time.” The proud young mother was deeply in love with her first-born children and had given them “names of promise and of hope, reaching forward names, not looking back ones.”

Unfortunately, Hattie’s optimism is short-lived.

During a brutally cold Philadelphia winter, money is scarce and the furnace breaks down. Hattie struggles to keep her twins healthy, but they die of pneumonia. Hattie never recovers from this tragedy. She goes on to have nine more children, but fails to establish a strong, maternal bond with any of them.

In the remaining self-contained chapters that cover the years 1948 to 1980, author Ayana Mathis reveals the extent of Hattie’s grief through the eyes of her other children and a grandchild. Thrown in the middle of their lives, we watch as they wrestle with their inner demons.

We meet Floyd, a talented musician, who struggles with sexual confusion and shame.

Hattie’s son Six alternates between bouts of violence and Bible preaching.

We can feel Bell’s ambivalence toward her mother as she lies dying of tuberculosis in a run-down apartment. She actually fantasizes about her mother’s soup: “Hattie had kept them all alive with sheer will and collard greens and some southern remedies. Mean as the dickens, though.”

While Alice appears to be the most successful and upwardly mobile sibling, she cannot release memories of the childhood abuse that she and her brother Billups endured.

Bits and pieces of Hattie’s life emerge as each child’s life unfolds. We can feel her frustration and anguish as she wrestles with her husband’s womanizing and the circumstances surrounding the births of Ruthie and Ella.

At times, it was hard to keep track of all the characters. Personally, I would have preferred more depth and  the use of, at most, four different voices.  I found Hattie, Bell, Floyd and Six to be the most compelling of the characters. If  Ayana Mathis decides to continue this saga, I hope she considers writing Bell’s story.

Note: Oprah will have an exclusive television interview with Ayana Mathis on Super Soul Sunday–February 3rd at 11:00 a.m.

Oprah and Elie Wiesel

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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Holocaust survivor. Political activist. Nobel Laureate. Best-selling author of 57 books. In spite of this outstanding roster of achievements, Elie Wiesel still asks himself: What have I done? Is it enough?

Yesterday on Super Soul Sunday, he sat down with Oprah to talk about his recent open heart surgery and his riveting new memoir, Open Heart, a love poem to his wife, Marion, and his grandchildren.

Throughout the hour-long telecast, the octogenarian spoke of the grace and cruelty he has experienced throughout his life. While at Auschwitz, he found it difficult to understand God’s silence and the world’s silence. At age thirty, he broke his own silence and wrote “Night” the bestseller that was translated into thirty languages and sold to millions around the world. Later, he and his wife began the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.

In recent years, he experienced the loss of his entire life savings and $15 million of the foundation’s money because of Bernie Madoff. When he received the news, he turned to his wife and said, “We have seen worse.” The financial loss did not make him pessimistic or desperate. Instead, he spoke in glowing terms about the hundreds of Americans who sent small donations to the foundation afterward.

I was moved by his comparison of Alzheimer’s disease to a book. Each day, a page is torn out until all that remains are the covers of the book.

Oprah described the interview as a prayer and was deeply moved by his takeaway for all of us:

Whatever you do in life, think higher and feel deeper.

So many wonderful quotes…I’m putting Open Heart on my 2013 reading list.

• Every second counts and every moment matters.

• Hadn’t I lived with death, even in death?

• Illness may diminish me, but it won’t destroy me.

• Life is not a fist. Life is an open hand waiting for some other hand to enter it.

• Indifference enables everything which is bad for life.

• I define myself more by my questions than by my answers.

• To listen to a witness is to become a witness.

• Every moment is a new beginning. Every handshake a promise.

• If life is not an offering to the other, what are we doing on this earth?

Oprah and Dr. Eben Alexander

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

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On yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, Oprah sat down with Dr. Eben Alexander to discuss his out-of-the-universe experience.

In November of 2008, the successful neurosurgeon’s luck ran out. In the middle of the night, he woke up with severe back pain that felt like he had been struck by a freight train. Within four hours, bacterial meningitis drove him into a coma that lasted seven days. The prognosis was not a good one. His survival rate was down to 2% and, if he woke up from the coma, the doctors predicted he would need chronic care for the rest of his life.

He defied the odds and when he woke up, calmly told his sister, “All will be well.”

After two months of rehabilitation, Dr. Alexander fully regained his language and memories. At first, he shared his remarkable story only with family, friends and colleagues. Later, he decided to write a scientific report that evolved into the New York Times best-selling book, Proof of Heaven.

Before his near-death experience, Dr. Alexander had been skeptical about God and heaven. In 2000, he experienced a crisis of faith when his birth mother rejected his invitation to meet. That rejection reminded him of a deep and powerful memory of being thrown away at birth. A memory, he claims many adopted children have within the core of their being.

Whenever he heard his patients talk about their own near-death experiences, he assumed there was a logical, brain-based explanation. Afterward, he found himself facing the same skepticism, especially from colleagues who gently reminded him that “his brain was soaking in pus.” Others suggested that the strong medication he was given could have caused vivid dreams and hallucinations. Dr. Alexander countered this argument by reminding people that these drugs work primarily in the neo-cortex, the part of the brain that shut down when he entered the coma state.

I was impressed by his beautiful and vivid descriptions of the other realm…

“I was rescued from the underground by a slow-moving, spinning white light and the most gorgeous melody. As it got closer, it exploded and was a portal into a beautiful, verdant valley.”

“Billowing clouds with different colors”

“Orbs and of light shooting through the sky”

Quotable quotes…

God does not have a face or gender.

We are conscious in spite of our brain.

The boundaries of self are fiction.

It’s a beautiful gift in knowing God, knowing that prayer does work, and just knowing that our lives means so much more.

Death is not an end of anything. It is a transition.

Newborns come in trailing the breath of angels. (Oprah)

Message for all of us…Each and every one of us is deeply loved.

Oprah and Jean Houston

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, Oprah sat down with  Jean Houston, one of the elders of the personal growth movement. Asked to describe herself, the American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher came up with the following:   “an evocateur of the possible and midwife of the soul.” Throughout the telecast, she impressed Oprah and all of us with her optimism and insights. I am looking forward to reading her latest book,  The Wizard of Us,  where she interprets the deeper messages within the The Wizard of Oz and leads us along the Hero’s journey that awaits each of us.

While she has met with some of the great citizens of the world, she finds greatness in everyone she meets. In particular, she is ignited by her encounters with young people. She is very optimistic about our world and believes that more people are becoming more conscious.  When asked to define soul, she came up with three definitions: essence of who and what we are, lure of our becoming, and sometimes a pain in the neck.

The seventy-five-year-old Houston does not look her age and attributes her youthfulness to her Sicilian roots. She has never thought too much about the aging process; there’s so much to do and to be. She finds the second half of her life most interesting and believes that her own life started to get really good at age sixty.

Quotable Quotes…

You’re always wearing those red shoes.

I have a passion for the possible.

Guru—Gee, you are YOU!

We are sourced in spirit and we are adequate to the challenge of the times.

If you don’t accept the yearning, you end up dying inside. Joseph Campbell

We are the heroes of our own life’s journey. Joseph Campbell

Oprah and the Next Generation

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, Oprah featured three up-and-coming thought leaders: Gabrielle Bernstein, Mastin Kipp and Marie Forleo.

I was impressed by their voices and platforms.

At age 32, Gabrielle is a life coach, speaker, and best-selling author of Spirit Junkie. She reaches thousands of listeners with her weekly show on Hay House Radio. Open and psychically aware as a child, Gabrielle had an existential crisis at age sixteen. After her mother taught her how to meditate, she experienced shifts in her being and felt as sense of peace. For ten years, she traveled in the wrong direction, but found her way back at age twenty-five.

Thirty-year-old Mastin is the founder of The Daily Love, a newsletter, website and twitter feed. Considered the fasted growing inspirational site on the web, his followers increased from 1000 to 10,000 in one week after Kim Kardashian tweeted one of his posts. In his mid twenties, he experienced a divine storm that served as a wake-up call.

As author, speaker, life coach and entrepreneur, thirty-six-year-old Marie has empowered thousands of women around the world.  If Oprah, Tony Robbins, Jay-Z and Richard Branson had a child, Marie claims she would be that child.

Having unlocked the door to spirituality at such young ages, they are more than willing to share their experiences and help others awaken. When Oprah asked them to give three steps that anyone could follow, they came up with the following:

From Gabrielle…

1. Be willing to see things differently. When this happen, books start falling off the shelf and the right people appear in your life.

2. Pay attention to the opportunities, teachers and assignments that come your way.

3. Show up for these assignments

From Mastin…

1. Pay attention to the moments when you feel bliss.

2. Take action in that direction.

3. Trust as you step: something will arrive to support you.

From Marie…

1. Start with gratitude for everything you have in your life. When you are grateful, you change at the cellular level.

2. Be present to everything in your environment.

3. Bring passion to everything that you do.

Quotable Quotes…

Everyone has a God-size hole inside that they try to fill with food, shopping, drugs and other addictions. (Mastin Kipp)

Gratitude is a life saver whenever I feel frustrated or annoyed. (Marie Forleo)

We are not mystics in a monastery; we are mystics in the Western World. We must be able to monetize our gifts and skills. (Mastin Kipp)

We are compensated financially to the degree that we add value to the world. (Mastin Kipp)

Everyone is entitled to miracles. Miracles occur naturally and when they don’t, something has gone wrong. (Gabrielle Bernstein)

Oprah and Eckhart Tolle

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Yesterday, Oprah invited Eckhart Tolle to catch up, reflect and have a Super Soul Sunday conversation.

Throughout the telecast, Eckhart was in excellent form as he reviewed many of the topics in his books, The Power of Now and The New Earth. His main purpose in writing these books was to cause an awakening. If we don’t awaken, the problems caused by  unawakened minds will increase and multiply.

He provided insightful and, sometimes humorous, answers to questions from Oprah and the viewers.

Q. How do you accept an unpleasant situation, if change is not possible?

A. You must accept a situation, even if change is not possible. The basis for effective enlightenment is to come in alignment with the present situation. When you accept the “isness” of life, greater intelligence arises. If you are angry and resist the unpleasant situation,  you will remain stuck in it.

Q. How do you calm the voice in your head?

A. This question implies you know that your mind can’t stop. This is a good first step. Take the energy away from these thoughts, by asking yourself if you can feel the energy in your hands. Wait and you will feel it. Then move to your legs and other body parts. The inner body serves as a wonderful anchor for a sense of presence. This allows you to be distracted from your other thoughts.

Q. How does one clear the mind of bad memories?

A. Recognize that these memories are thoughts only in your head. They are not realities because they have already happened.

Q. How do you have fun?

A. I enjoy the present moment wherever I am and that’s fun for me.

Q. Are you happy?

A. I am in a state of peaceful aliveness.

Q. What do you believe in?

A. I believe in nothing in particular. LOL

Q. What are you grateful for?

A. I am grateful for always this moment…the now, no matter what form it takes.

Quotable Quotes…

You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness of thoughts disguised as a person.

Only spirit can recognize spirit.
If you identify with every thought in your head, you are not ready to hear the message.

Guilt is a strong way for the ego to strengthen itself.

You don’t have to believe every thought that comes into your head.

The answer doesn’t always come in words. It often reveals itself as awareness.

Stillness is the language that God speaks. Everything else is a bad translation.

Oprah and Deepak Chopra

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

When Deepak Chopra first started meditating, he hoped to get rid of a pack-a-day smoking habit  and relieve stress. He achieved those goals and, in the process, changed the hard-wiring of his brain. While speaking with Oprah at yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, he admitted to being emotionally free with no resentments, no guilt and no one left  to forgive.

Forty years of daily meditation has transformed his life. And now Deepak Chopra invites all of us to participate in his free 21-Day Meditation Challenge.

Why 21 days?

It takes that long to change the hard-wiring our brains and form a habit. As more neural networks are created, we start to see opportunities where others see problems. This lays the foundation for creating abundance, the main focus of the challenge. And if we continue meditating for 66 days, a groove is created in the brain.

Deepak reiterated the fact that mediation is a part of every spiritual tradition and has nothing to do with ideology or doctrine.  Very simply, meditation is a progressive quieting of the mind that allows the spirit to speak in silence.

Meditation tips from Deepak Chopra…

The best times to meditate are first thing in the morning and late afternoon between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.

Fifteen to twenty minutes, twice a day, is enough.

Sitting is preferable to lying down.

Observe the breath, but do not manipulate it.

Visualize your dreams before, not during meditation.

Most important of all…BE COMFORTABLE.

Quotable Quotes…

My body is busy, I’m not.

Set the intention and let the universe do the rest.

The best way to get rid of your enemies is to increase their capacity for happiness.

Our genes are coding our karma.

Science is how God thinks.

We limit ourselves by defining ourselves.

I want to know what God thinks. The rest are details. Albert Einstein.

Oprah and Deepak Chopra

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Yesterday on Super Soul Sunday, Oprah went soul to soul with one of the greatest thought leaders of our time: Deepak Chopra. Together, they addressed some of life’s biggest questions and provided us with excellent advice on how to improve the quality of our lives.

A prolific writer, Deepak has penned nineteen best sellers and sold over twenty million books worldwide. It was interesting to learn that he wrote The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success on a plane ride from Singapore to Melbourne. He commented that readers struggle most with the Law of Least Effort. They have difficulty realizing that when they are rested and full of love and compassion, things will synchronistically fall in place.

Deepak’s greatest desire is to see a peaceful, just, sustainable and happier world—something that can only be accomplished if there is more love and compassion. But he is optimistic and believes that we are seeing acceleration in that direction.

When speaking with children, he encourages them to look in the mirror and repeat the following short, but powerful, statements: I am beneath no one. I am fearless. I am immune to criticism. He encourages all parents to follow that example and help build up their children’s self esteem.

I was most impressed by his comment—“I never react anymore.” While he did not handle criticism very well in his younger years, he is now able to watch himself and not get angry. In fact, he has not argued with any member of his family during the last thirty years. A glowing testimonial to forty years of daily meditation!

He hopes his legacy will be that of “a passing breeze, a pattern of behavior in the universe that came and is now gone but the fragrance lingers.”

So many wonderful quotations…

When you recognize the impermanence of your body, you enter the present moment.

You can change your biological age if you change your perception.

People don’t grow old. When they stop growing, they become old.

The best way to prepare for the future is to be totally present now.

Now is the moment that never ends.

Life is a field of infinite possibilities and an opportunity to evolve in the direction of truth, goodness, beauty and harmony.

My greatest teacher is my own inner silence.

God is the evolutionary impulse of the universe.

We are the consciousness that makes the universe manifest.

Affirmation: Everyday and in every way, I am increasing my mental and physical capacity.

Secret to a happy life: Recognize that no matter what the situation, there is a creative opportunity in it.

Starting November 5, Deepak Chopra will offer a 21-day meditation challenge. It is free and open to everyone–worldwide.

Oprah and DeVon Franklin

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On yesterday’s Super Soul Sunday, Hollywood film executive and spiritual teacher DeVon Franklin sat down with Oprah to share his thoughts on achieving success without compromising faith.

Throughout the hour-long program, DeVon referred to his recently released book, Produced by Faith, in which he compares our life journeys to the development and production of a movie. God is the director and each person is the star of his/her movie.

It is not surprising that DeVon feels most at home on the set and at the pulpit. A deeply religious and spiritual man, he considers prayer to be therapeutic and welcomes the opportunity to express himself and listen carefully to God’s answers.

What does he know for sure…God is real and faith works.

Quotable Quotes…

Stay in your own movie.

If I embrace who I am, it will open doors not shut them.

If your faith won’t fit in the door that opens, then do not walk through that door.

The door that God has opened for you will fit your faith.

Without great characters, you have no story.

Ego moves God out of the director’s chair.

What keeps us in the valley of depression is a response to one moment, one scene of the story.

We are only in control of two things: how we prepare for what might happen and how we respond to what just happened.