Who You Are Meant To Be, According to Oprah and Gayle
I am a firm believer in the It's Not the Destination, It's the Journey school of philosophy regarding life purpose.
In theory.
In practice, the answer to the question "Who Am I Meant To Be?" rankles daily. Maybe uncool to admit, like an admission about the time you spent the whole day with your fly open or your ongoing battle with chin hair management, but there it is. Who Am I Meant To Be?
I could try to figure this out by embarking on a lengthy and expensive journey a la Elizabeth Gilbert, but as someone recently said to me and how I wish I could remember who it was because I totally agreed and wait, I think I remember and I hope it's her because I love her and only get to see her and her gorgeous offspring at Wednesday Spaghetti and the occasional soccer practice, Eat, Pray, Love would have been better if it were just Eat, Love. The Pray part...not so much. But I'm not going down that road. For one thing, I know some folks who would have something to say if I just up and left to go eat gelato and think about my feelings for a year.
I could immerse myself in therapy and untangle the hopelessly sticky webs of identity, experience, temperament, and situation. But I'm not going down that road right now. I'm a pretty happy girl at the moment, I like the way things are, and this boat don't need no rocking.
I could consult a guru, a life coach, I could interview my family and friends, I could meditate, I could experiment.
Or, I could take a five minute pen and paper survey in October's Oprah Magazine, which features a whole section aiming to guide people (ok, female people) towards finding their true selves. Intellectual luminaries weigh in with personal anecdotes and cautionary tales.
The survey. You know...on a scale of 0-4 what kind of tree would you be, that kind of thing.
There are seven identified STYLES. Cleverly named Style 1, Style 2, Style 3, Style 4, and you can fill in the rest.
Shall we begin?
I get pleasure in being creative - yes. This is easy!!
Others have described me as too emotional - yeah. Stupid people. Mean, stupid people. Who I hate. Because they are stupid and mean. And who hurt my feelings by calling me names. What?
I don't feel it is important to adapt to societal expectations - This question is too hard. How can we go from "I like to be creative" to this? Could we narrow down "societal expectations?" Like...Yes, you should bathe regularly, No you shouldn't commit acts of violence against unborn baby seals whilst littering. Yes, you should let me pass you if you are driving like my 94 year old grandmother and No, you shouldn't give me the finger while I'm doing it even if I happen to be making a gesture that would appear to be rude in your general direction.
People sometimes mistake my exuberance for impulsiveness or lack of discipline - Yes. No. I don't know. Maybe. If they do they are stupid people. Mean, stupid people who don't understand about joy and spontaneity much the same way I don't understand about boundaries and manners and moderation.
Under stress I tend to withdraw and isolate draw myself - I think something went wrong with the printing of this quiz. Shouldn't this read, "Under stress I tend to withdraw and isolate myself until I am able to figure out who best to blast with my scorching wrath in a Herculean effort at transference"?
When others don't appreciate my help and support, I tend to do even more for them - Wouldn't that just make me annoying?
I am very conscious of my image and work hard to make sure it reflects my success - Can I get partial credit on this one?
I enjoy being the center of attention. It's also important that my work be recognized - No comment.
Yadda yadda. Once all your responses are scored and tallied, you are directed to see which style is the Real You. Are you "Striving to Help," "Striving to Be Recognized," "Striving to Be Creative," "Striving to Be Spontaneous," Striving to Be Knowledgeable," "Striving to Be Secure," or "Striving to Be in Control." (Shut up, mom. Am not.).
The upshot of all of this soul-searching is that I am not, apparently, striving to be anything. At least not according to Oprah and her posse.
Is there a Style 8 that anybody knows about? Striving to feel OK about the journey enough that I don't spend five minutes of my life that I'll never get back deciding if I'm a 3 or a 4 in terms of my desire to help others?
Because I'm that. I'm Style 8.
As long as you have a good hand bag and shoes, I think you can be any style you want. Or so I'm told.
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I can't help but wonder what Oprah and her boyfriend, Gayle are striving to be.
Oh yeah, I went there.
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I think I'm either "Striving to be too stoopid to say no" or "Striving to get a few hours of sleep"
As a side note, I overheard Luke telling our Michele today, "I met her! She's soooooooo nice!!!!" He was talking about you.
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I like your style.
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first of all, if you went to go eat gelato for a year, i would say CAN I COME TOO?!?!?!? PLEASE!!!!!
Second of all, my keyboard is completely retarded and my husband won't put new batteries in it and he's going to get his. Yeah.
Third of all, I hate mean stupid people who don't understand things and that may or may not include my boyfriend evil santa.
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Oh, don't sell yourself short. You're definitely an 11.
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