'O' what a woman, what a day, what a purpose

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Sistagirls, you know it's got to be the Big "O," something really outstanding or outrageous or outlandish to get thousands of women to jump (or crawl, in the case of yours truly) out of bed early on a Saturday morning, put on their Sunday best, and stand in lines wrapped around the Washington Convention Center for hours in pastel spike heels and pumps. One group of the "O"-verexcited ladies in line were "O"-verheard saying, "We're waiting for "Pope-prah," because "Oprah's as big as the pope," a Dove soap representative told me in the "Personal Growth Center" before the main event.

Well, I don't know about h-"o"liness," but the "Live Your Best Life" tour, sponsored by superstar Oprah Winfrey and O, the Oprah magazine, was nothing if not ah, "Oprah-rational."

A simple observer might assume that a pope was inside to draw 5,000 women from as far away as Florida, Maine and California. For several, including a Chicago mother-daughter duo, it was Oprah herself who opened the pearly convention center gates to deliver on their Mother's Day dream.

The nation's capital was chosen because the tour has not visited here before. Oprah's unapologetically sassy text, peppered with cultural "sista" references, appeared geared to a majority-black audience. But the crowd here was equally mixed.

Dressed casually in jean skirts and wearing "Three Generations of Oprah Fans" T-shirts, Camille Gerald, 35, of Hyattsville, surprised her mother, Annie Gerald, and great-aunt, Adeline Smith, both from Boston, with a special Mother's Day treat "to fellowship with other women and with Oprah up close." Later, as part of the "O-vation," they were smiling and clapping as staffers warmed up the audience before Oprah appeared, parted the roaring waters and took to the stage, reciting Maya Angelou's classic prideful poem, "Phenomenal Woman."

This faithful flock jubilantly forked over a minimum of $200 -- or as high as $500 on EBay -- for a chance "just to be in the same room," or "Oh, my God," touch the bejeweled hem of Oprah's lemon-lime designer outfit. The event sold out 10 minutes after tickets went on sale in early April.

During her down-to-earth, aut-"O"-bi-"O"-graphical teach-in, Miss Winfrey attempted to use the obstacles in her own life, particularly as "a colored girl growing up in Mississippi" and with losing weight, as illustrative examples. She challenged members of the audience, writing down her every word, to get still, listen silently, find a passion and a purpose, surrender it to God or "a higher power," and watch how God improves their lives.

Still, "Don't try to be me," she warned. Rather, "Be the best you." Humbly, if you can imagine, "O" tried hard to downplay her h-"o"liness." "I'm not anyone special; I'm just obedient," she said in one of many references to listening to the spiritual directives she "receives from God." When I asked what she hoped her fans might gain for their admission fee, she seemed sincere in her answer.

"My hope is that every woman leaves here with a greater purpose," she said.

Miss Winfrey said, "I don't make a dime [from these appearances]. ... I don't need any more attention or shoes."