For a brief, intriguing moment last year, it seemed as though Oprah Winfrey might launch a bid to become US president. She had support from famous figures such as Steven Spielberg, who called her the "ambassador of empathy – and we need a mindful, empathetic human being in the White House".
There was an #Oprah2020 hashtag and campaign mugs, while opinion polls suggested she would win easily in an election race against Donald Trump. She had that unique quality in politics and life: momentum. And then she told InStyle magazine: "I've always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not. It's not something that interests me."
Taking a journey with Oprah
That is more or less the manifesto of her new book, The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction And Purpose. It's a short self-help book for anyone at a crossroads in their careers or relationships, or people struggling with health, addiction or money problems. Winfrey promises to be a guide on a journey to lasting change, and it all starts with defining what matters most to you. "There was a time in my own life when I felt torn between who the world was telling me I should be, and what I felt to be the truth of myself," she writes.
Winfrey is not so much a guide as an editor for The Path Made Clear. The 13 short chapters, with suitably whimsical titles such as The Seeds, The Roots, The Whispers, The Clouds and so on, are introduced by Winfrey, usually via an anecdote of a personal struggle overcome. That's fair enough, as her rags to riches story from a Mississippi farm girl to the first black female billionaire is incredible. But then she hands over each page to "visionaries, artists, teachers and trailblazers who have walked this road before you and who have shared their inspiration and lessons with me".
Celebrity advice
Seemingly everyone in Winfrey's orbit offers their thought for the day. Among them are Indian-American New Age exponent Deepak Chopra, who suggests focusing on your gifts rather than your weaknesses, while Indian "wisdom teacher" Dr Shefali Tsabary integrates eastern philosophy with western psychology and says people should focus on the "vast expanse of their spirit" rather than becoming fearful of life-altering changes in middle-age. Former vice president Joe Biden's overwhelming confidence in people, born out of the loss of his wife and daughter in a traffic accident, is eye-opening, too.
But – and it's a huge but – is anyone really going to be inspired by Justin Timberlake stating in one short paragraph that practice makes perfect? Elsewhere, Alanis Morissette says that realised fame wouldn't make her less lonely, and Jon Bon Jovi explains that "any time you think you've hit the top of the mountain, the truth is you've simply reached another mountain, and it's there to climb all over again". Thanks, Jon.
The final verdict
And if The Path Made Clear sounds like a compilation of inspirational, motivational and quickly scrolled-past Instagram posts, it often looks like it, too. Philosopher Mark Nepo's offering – "I want my legacy to be that what matters most in this life moves through me the way air moves through a window to refresh another" – is set on a stock image of grass swaying in the wind.
That's probably how The Path Made Clear works best, as a series of posts to dip into when the time seems right. Certainly the sheer weight of cod philosophy and psychology is difficult to stomach in one sitting; it all makes Winfrey's good intentions come across as a little empty.
Which is not to say there aren't some good contributions in the book. Perhaps the most powerful section is a short Q&A Winfrey conducts with Unleasing the Soul of Money author Lynne Twist on the silent power of money. Twist makes a fantastic point about how we always think we need 30 per cent more of everything. "There's not enough time. There's not enough money. There's not enough love. There are not enough vacations … every conversation, every lunch, every dinner, everything is about what we don't have enough of," Twist says.
She says that mindset affects our sense of ourselves – "we're not enough, I'm not enough" – which becomes the source of so much suffering. Instead, we should aim for sufficiency, "a place of wholeness, completeness and deep understanding of who we are".
It is a place that Winfrey has reached, given her decision not to run for president next year.
It's also what makes this book ultimately frustrating – Winfrey is such a fascinating character, such a symbol of possibility, hope and triumph, you want to read rather more about her path of direction and purpose, and much less of Jay-Z's excitement at a new track that flows just right.
The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction And Purpose by Oprah Winfrey is out now
