Photo: Cliff Watts

Friends of Summer,

Can you believe it's August already? Hot August nights and the leaves hanging down and the grass on the ground smelling sweet...thank you Neil Diamond. I always want to play that song this month.

I am digitally, technically, challenged but learned a great new thing yesterday.

Please don't LOL, but I did not know that you could play music wirelessly through the speakers in your house directly from your iPad. And can upload movies directly to your TV screen, and the movies maintain their HD quality.

I still think that iPad is a magic box.

I spent my first full week at OWN merging new staff with Harpo folks. Alignment is the first step in getting anything to work. We all had a great week. Although if you saw my tweet, you noticed I could use some better office furniture.


We're working on new shows for fall. ROSIE's on at 7 p.m. ET/PT. I watched in awe this past Friday as she sat in a room full of critics (the Television Critics Association) and made them actually LOL.

OWN YOUR LIFE (the oprah class) will be at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Sign up if you're interested in having a better life at Oprah.com.

By the way did you see the show SERVING LIFE on OWN it re-airs this Wednesday night at 9 p.m. and 12 a.m. ET/PT. Produced and narrated by Forest Whitaker. If you didn't see it and can't see it when it re-airs...DVR. It's worth your time.

I've been emailing Forest all weekend. I can't stop thinking about it. It was really, REALLY good. And a tough subject. But opened my heart and made me drop a lot of preconceived notions and judgment.

It is great television I'm proud to platform on OWN.

@Woodsy1069 asked me on Twitter yesterday if I was "frazzled" by OWN's performance thus far.

Nope, not frazzled. And I have faith that if I do what I'm supposed to—allow it to serve my purpose and you, the viewer—it will succeed.

Everyone in the cable business told me it would take three years. Some said five. I've been here a week.

Lorne Michaels, master creator/producer told me months ago, "It won't start to come together until you're there."

So I made myself CEO and am now in the trenches with Erik and Sheri, who've masterfully run Harpo and are now also presidents of OWN. We're uniting and building our team.

I will say this: It's 10 times harder than doing my daily show. Doing that show felt like breathing every day. Now, I'm in so many meetings I sometimes have to step out and catch a breath.

But I see every challenge as an opportunity. So no shortage of opportunities here.

I know the same is true for your life.

My experience is a network; yours is whatever is calling you right now.

Get clarity. Don't allow yourself to be overwhelmed. Don't be defeated by mistakes. Learn from them.

We have a new motto..."The next right decision"...what is it?

Onward!