THE BUCKET LIST
Mine has always been minimal. Life came at me generous with opportunities few people enjoy. I’ve met Presidents, iconic talents in every field and the top of the A list. I once dined with Cary Grant, have sung a medley with Fred Astaire and Tony Bennett, sipped Jack Daniels with Sinatra. Okay, the truth, I never really sipped anything.
Good fortune took me placed I’d only dreamed of. The runt of the litter, the escapee from life in a twenty-four foot trailer, has been treated like a king.
My gratitude cup runneth over. In fact it’s beginning to look like the water bucket scene from Disney’s the Sorcerers Apprentice. September 16th, the day the book was published we flew to Chicago to tape Super Soul Sunday. Truly a bucket list event. Tracey described it all beautifully in her blog.
Let me start in the middle. There’s nothing like that moment when she walks in to the green room, arms wide open like you’re her best friend and with a three octave “Helloooooo!” makes you feel like she’s been waiting for you all her life.
Gulp. It’s so powerful you don’t really notice the film crew you’ve been prepped to see following her. In fact you’ve been seated in positions that will be camera visible as she swoops through the door.
Swoop. Gulp. “Hi Oprah….”
She takes you by the arm like Dorothy grabbing the Tin Man, reaches over and snags Tee and suddenly we’re off to meet with the wizard. Wizardess? And as we make our way to the lighted set at the end of the dark hallway she leans over and softly says, “No, is a gift.” I think she may have laughed. And I get the message. It’s a dose of comfort. She’s letting me know she gets us. She’s read the book and found truth worth sharing with her audience.
That would be everyone. Okay, I just slipped into Weepy Williams mode. Just got that wave of gratitude that your soul answers with salty tears. That lump in the throat you can’t quite talk through. My minister, Jim Turrell calls it “Gods Punctuation!” I love that
On the set we sit across from her and almost don’t notice when the circular floor begins to slowly rise, lifting us up to a better angle for the many camera’s surrounding us. Lifting us to a height where the blue screens behind us can best frame our faces. Better, I suppose, if they should choose to flash images of the remarkable past that brought Tracey and I to this place.
The lifting is a perfect metaphor for what she’s doing. What she’s always done. Raised our consciousness to a higher level. Lifts us with her generosity of spirit and passionate conversation with the most remarkable Alumni ever assembled. Tracey Dee Jackson is a member of that esteemed group now. So is Paul Hamilton Williams.
I need a hanky.
Oprah.
Dear Oprah. Can you guess what if feels like to sit across from you and have you celebrate recovery? Can you imagine the grace of that moment for me? For all of us who’ve been granted this sweet reunion with Spirit, with our Higher Powers, our families and our passion to do something meaningful and good? To be honored by your approval.
Thank you Oprah. Thank you for giving voice to the principals of the recovery movement. Thank you for endorsing the philosophy of two totally non professionals who scooped up hunks of their own history, the good and the bad, and forged a simple plan to share what we knew would work if one was willing to change. We believe that what we offer will help people rise above the destructive habits that dent and sometimes destroy their lives.
We will be heard now. You did that. Thank you Oprah.
Tracey and Paul on Super Soul Sunday. Can I have a “Wow, please?” I remember very little of the conversation. We were told it’s not something you can really prepare for. Not a place for performance or rehearsed, witty responses. That didn’t keep me from endless oration in the shower, answering the questions we knew would be coming in glorious memorable prose. What is the Soul? Describe God. Easy stuff like that. I prayed I’d do well as I searched for clever answers. An extended ego search for pearls of wisdom
You can’t cram for Super Soul Sunday. It’s not a quiz. It’s like jazz. Or a jam session. Not a speech but a conversation. A dance with Oprah. And part of her gift is that she somehow brings out your best. She slows down the busy head and opens up your heart with an energy that’s as loving as a Mothers touch is supposed to be. You can feel it watching the show can’t you?
My room at the Chicago hotel was the same as Tracey’s on another floor. We shared the same view and both photographed the beautiful sunrise the morning of the show.
We arrived at Harpo studios and were ushered into make-up where Tracey and two make up artists began to speak a language I’d never heard but was a little frightened by. They dabbed at powders and spun make up brushes in their fingers like gunslingers. Scary.
There was a special surprise for me. Two kinds of Calamari. One hot, the other cold. Squid for breakfast. I ate hearty. The kind of thoughtfulness that is displayed by everyone who works with Oprah.
It’s a day I’ll never forget. And an experience I can’t quite remember. The music was too loud to hear the words. I heard Tracey saying things she’d never said before that were bumper sticker brilliant. “Faith is a firewall to fear!” I think that’s one of the beauties first uttered in the company of Ms. Winfrey. Something clicked for both of us and I think we spoke from the place most appreciated in Oprah’s world. From our own authentic selves. In the end she held our baby up to the camera and said we had a bestseller or that it would change the world. I do remember her saying that it was the perfect Christmas or Chanukah gift. When I drank I had Blackouts. On Super Soul Sunday I had a Whiteout.
This book was Tracey’s idea. I believe it’s the most important work either of us have done. A chance to prove that recovery is not just for addicts. From the first days of writing we allowed ourselves to dream big. Then did the work. I highly recommend that combination.
“Dream away child, Let your dreams run wild…”
They may come true if you season them with Gratitude and Trust.
Hey Tee. We’re on Oprah …
Paul Williams is a singer, songwriter, actor, recovery advocate and has been a fixture on the American cultural scene since the seventies. His book Gratitude and Trust is now available.