Still Me

As I've stated before, I read a wonderful book, "Living Oprah", and was inspired and entertained by it. At one point, the author, Robyn Okrant, talks about how her life changed in the span of a few minutes, after an appearance on the Today show. It was a riot, I must say. She went in as Robyn, but came out as "Oprah Lady". People were beginning to recognize her from her appearance on the show and she marveled at the thought that TV could make someone "more interesting". Well, I haven't had the experience of being recognized from my TV appearances in public, but I did have a moment that I thought was just as fantastic.

I received an email from a person who'd viewed my episode of Hoarders and wanted help, but she'd forgotten to include her area code. So, I set forth on an investigation to find the missing information. Okay, that sounds grander than it actually was. I used the Internet to search for her hometown (which she'd included in the email) to find the area code. To my chagrin, there were about 10 different area codes listed. Not to be deterred, I started at the top of the list and worked my way down, calling each, until I found the correct one. Okay, I admit, that was a bit time consuming, but wait for it, it will be clear why it was worth the effort. Finally, I find the correct combination and I call her. She answers the telephone, I introduce myself, and she starts screaming and crying at the same time!! After a few seconds, she calms down and I ask what brought that burst of emotion. She said she was surprised that I'd called her back. "Huh?" Wasn't that what she wanted me to do in response to her email? "Yes", but she never thought that I would actually call her. "Why?" I asked. Now stay with me because within the very same moment I felt about as humbled as I ever have and had something similar to the "Okrant Oprah Lady" experience as well. She said, "I never thought the Dr. would call me back. You're on TV!!" Through my laughter (not at her, but at her comment), I was able to explain that I'm the same person she saw on TV. I even told her that I still take out my own trash!! I'm still me. No pretense, no celebrity attitude, still me. It was a great moment. It's funny the status we ascribe to those we see on a once small, black and white device that most Americans didn't even have when it first came out. But now, there are televisions in multiple rooms of many of our homes and we make judgments, good or bad, positive or negative, about those we view on them. I'm just glad that I'm still me.

Dr. DClutter™