Oct 18, 2026 · 14 min · 9 segments
Oprah sits down with Cheryl Strayed to explore how loss can become a catalyst for transformation, leading us toward greater compassion, courage, and self-acceptance. After losing her mother and…
Oprah WinfreyHost
During this whole process of writing, did you change the way you were able to express suffering? Because I had read that at one point that you thought that that was
Like, don't tell that story.
Yeah, don't
Yes, absolutely.
Don't let
Yeah.
Well, I would say that that's the lesson, you know, one of the most important lessons I learned through the success of WOW is that it was such an affirmation that if you take that risk, If you take that chance, if you tell the truest, hardest, deepest story you have within you, you're not going to step into the light and find that you're there alone, that you're going to be surrounded by people who are there with you.
And say, me too.
Saying, me too.
Me too.
And when you take that, essentially you're risking vulnerability.
You're risking showing your truest nature.
And, you know, here I was writing about the death of my mother.
You know, as you know, my mom died of cancer when she was 45.
It was the greatest loss of my life.
And it was that story that I had to tell over and over again.
I've told it in all of my books.
And there was a point where I felt like, okay, Cheryl, you need to shut up about this.
This is, you know, a lot of people die of cancer.
Quit complaining about it.
During this whole process of writing, did you change the way you were able to express suffering? Because I had read that at one point that you thought that that was
Like, don't tell that story.
Yeah, don't
Yes, absolutely.
Don't let
Yeah.
Well, I would say that that's the lesson, you know, one of the most important lessons I learned through the success of WOW is that it was such an affirmation that if you take that risk, If you take that chance, if you tell the truest, hardest, deepest story you have within you, you're not going to step into the light and find that you're there alone, that you're going to be surrounded by people who are there with you.
And say, me too.
Saying, me too.
Me too.
And when you take that, essentially you're risking vulnerability.
You're risking showing your truest nature.
And, you know, here I was writing about the death of my mother.
You know, as you know, my mom died of cancer when she was 45.
It was the greatest loss of my life.
And it was that story that I had to tell over and over again.
I've told it in all of my books.
And there was a point where I felt like, okay, Cheryl, you need to shut up about this.
This is, you know, a lot of people die of cancer.
Quit complaining about it.
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