"We can't become what we need to be by remaining what we are."
Oprah Winfrey Oprah accomplished in her life, what I suspect we all aspire to, the best at what we do, success in our chosen profession, freedom to make choices, and financial comfort.
Oprah is a media brand, producer, publisher, book critic, actress, international celebrity, philanthropist: a woman… African American, who succeeded in a male dominated field.
How did she succeed at so many things, while others struggle? It’s often the negative in a person’s life that is the catalyst for an outcome that is positive. Oprah’s dysfunctional family background and abuse, must have made her realize life could be far better. Only she could make it happen. She lived with her mother in poverty after living with her grandmother until she was six, and then was shipped off to her father.
The stories of the 46 women, in Particular Passions: Talks with Women who Have Shaped our Times, make you realize background is not a component of success.
One of the pioneering women in Particular Passions, Agnes de Mille, transformed dance with storytelling and ushered musical theatre into its’ golden age. She had everything, but not the body she needed to be a dancer. The outcome: finding a way to express herself.
As De Mille said in Particular Passions, “There are very few people in the world who are truly creative. I wanted to be one of them. ... It takes great energy to do anything creative. ... You have to care so much that you can’t sleep, you can’t eat, you can’t talk to people. It’s just got to be right. You can’t do it without that passion.”
Pick any one of a dozen chapters, e-published at $.99, and benefit from a lifetime of wisdom revealed in these oral biographies. Amazon http://amzn.to/UH8KaH , Apple http://bit.ly/S7rMDr , more about the book http://tinyurl.com/bge2lwd
The book was reviewed as "One of those rare, rare books that pick your life up, turn it around and point it in the right direction." — K.T. Maclay
Enjoy, be inspired! You wont be disappointed.