Whoopi Goldberg: 4 lessons on authenticity

Connection Mentors

The Connection Mentors Series

Healthy relationships are the foundation of well-being, but the strength of our connection to our authentic self creates the blueprint for how we show up in relationships with others. It takes courage to walk the path of authenticity.

This series celebrates the stories of those who live on their terms—honoring their truth, authentic strengths, and deepest desires. Embracing our unique expression as human beings creates a meaningful and impactful life.

May this series inspire you to step closer to your truth—or surrender fully to the wisdom of your inner knowing.

Connection Mentor: Whoopi Goldberg

“You can be yourself and an individual if you’re comfortable with some people not liking you or how you think—if you’re comfortable going against the grain, if you’re comfortable with people making fun of you or saying nasty things about you. If you’re comfortable with all of that, you can be yourself. The price of being yourself is other people’s angst about you being yourself.”— Whoopi Goldberg

One of the few to achieve EGOT status—having won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award—Whoopi Goldberg is a legend who has always done things her way. Born Caryn Elaine Johnson in the Chelsea projects of New York City on November 13, 1955, she grew up facing the challenges of poverty and undiagnosed dyslexia. But through it all, her mother Emma Harris instilled in her a powerful truth: that anything was possible.

Here are four powerful lessons on authenticity from the life of Whoopi Goldberg.

1. When traditional schooling methods don’t match your learning style, make the world your classroom and learn in the way that suits you best.

   At an early age, Whoopi knew that school wasn’t for her. Struggling with undiagnosed dyslexia, she found it difficult to learn in a traditional environment and decided to drop out of high school at 16. Understanding that her brain worked differently, her mom reluctantly agreed with the decision. She told Whoopi, “You can learn anything you want to—it’s just going to take you a little longer.”

   
   

   Her mom supported her by sitting with her every Sunday to review current events using the local paper. She also made Whoopi commit to attending weekly seminars to help supplement her education. Fortunately, Whoopi had a mother who didn’t label her as lazy, but instead encouraged her to learn in the way that worked best for her.

   
   

2. Make your opportunities when opportunities are available that aren't made for you.

   Not willing to transform herself to fit the mold of what was expected in Hollywood, Whoopi faced difficulty landing roles early in her career. People didn’t know where to place her because of her appearance as a dark-skinned Black woman with natural hair.

   
   

   Taking matters into her own hands, she wrote and performed a one-woman sketch show. After hearing Alice Walker read excerpts from her book The Color Purple on the radio, Whoopi traded in plastic bottles to gather enough money to purchase the book. She fell in love with the story and wrote a letter to Alice Walker, telling her that if they ever made a movie, she wanted to be a part of it.

   
   

   As it turned out, Alice Walker was aware of Whoopi’s work because she had seen her show. Alice sent her work to Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones, and Whoopi eventually auditioned for the role of Celie—a role she played in the 1985 film adaptation.

   
   

3. Being an individual comes with the price of foregoing the need to be liked.

   Whoopi’s mother instilled in her the importance of being an individual and the consequences that came with it. She warned Whoopi that being true to herself meant not everyone would understand or like her, but if she could be okay with that, she’d be just fine.

   
   

4. Finding your sense of self and strength amid loss.

   There was a period when Whoopi’s mom suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized for two years. During that time, Whoopi and her brother, Clyde, cared for each other with some supervision. Although various family members came and went to help, the experience taught her an early and powerful lesson: she had to be self-sufficient. At just eight years old, it dawned on Whoopi that she was responsible for deciding what she wanted to do with her life. Out of that tragic chapter came her first major lesson in independence—and the beginning of cultivating a strong sense of self.

   
   

A combination of awe and wonder, met with our most traumatic childhood experiences, can serve as the catalyst for self-discovery and the determination to follow the pull of our natural strengths with conviction.

Xx

Carly

Sources/ Resources:

• Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me, by Whoopi Goldberg