Why Oprah is Awesome

An item about Oprah, sent to me by the effervescent Jeff Shaughnessy:

On one of the Secret shows, Oprah gave an example of the scientific power
of the concept. She said that once, while she was hosting an episode about a man
who could blow really big soap bubbles, she was thinking to herself, "Gee, that
looks fun. I would like to blow some bubbles." When she returned to her office
after the show, there, on her desk, was a silver Tiffany bubble blower. "So I
call my assistant," Oprah told the audience. "I say, 'Did you just run out and
get me some bubbles? 'Cause I got bubbles by my desk.' And she says, 'No, the
bubbles were always there. I bought you bubbles for your birthday and you didn't
notice them until today'."

There are many lessons that might be drawn from this anecdote. One is that
if you give Oprah a thoughtful gift, she may not bother to notice it or thank
you for it. This is not the lesson Oprah took away from her story. Because the
way she sees it, her assistant hadn't really given her the gift at all. She gave
it to herself. Using the power of The Secret, she said, "I had called in some
bubbles."