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Camille (continued): I suppose I'm an animist. I see a spiritual force in different aspects of nature—the trees, the sun and so forth. Nature makes me feel serene. I like to be introspective, look up at the sky at night and think about my son and other loved ones I have lost, knowing that they are there, somewhere.

Oprah: What you said earlier about feeling pain was powerful, because the way to real happiness is through your feelings. You can't get there unless you are willing to excavate your feelings.

Camille: Absolutely. Feelings are important. I think a lot of people are afraid to be in touch with their feelings. That's why they do all kinds of busy stuff. They continuously gratify themselves with other stuff so they are not dealing with feelings. They have noise around them all the time—loud music and TV. Yet the only way to know who you are and to project that is to deal with your feelings. And if you have baggage to purge, then you have to go to those you have hurt and say to them "I'm sorry." That's difficult for people who stuff their feelings. All of us have done something to hurt somebody.

Oprah: Who has been your Sheba, Camille?

Camille: I have a couple of Shebas. My mom, very much so. She is a fighter, and she is never afraid to jump out there and protest and give her time, no matter how busy she is. Another Sheba is a friend of the family, Dr. Dorothy Height, who is 88 now. Not because she is the head of the National Council of Negro Women, but because she was right in there with all those men who led the civil rights movement. When women were asked to provide services and do the footwork, Dorothy said, "No.... You're not going to take all the credit. I'm going to be right there with you, as a woman." She didn't take a secondary role to a man then or now. I like that spirit in her, that tenacity.

Oprah: Is there anything internally—emotional or spiritual—that makes you fearful about being all that you can be?

Camille: Nothing.

Oprah: Nothing that holds you back?

Camille: Not at this stage. The only thing that can hold me back is myself.

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