The Power Of Manifestation: How I Met Oprah By Putting Her On My Vision Board

The following is an edited exclusive extract from With Love, Chaos & Rigatoni by Jenna Holmes, aka P Mami, the creator of Plant Mama and Pasta Mama. Published with permission from Penguin Random House Australia.

As I walked through the door, I heard my phone ringing. I scrambled to find it among my bed covers and answered the random number. A voice with an upbeat, friendly American accent said, ‘Hi Jenna, it’s Amanda calling from The Oprah Winfrey Show.’

This. Cannot. Be. REAL! My stomach flipped, I started sweating and while on the phone, ran out to the living room. Using my best charades skills, I somehow managed to communicate to my family that OPRAH’S PEOPLE ARE ON THE PHONE! Everyone was quietly beating lounge pillows and jumping up and down like maniacs. If only I’d had the camera rolling!

Amanda had called to offer me tickets to a taping of the show. While delighted, I was also stuck – I had tickets to Bon Jovi that night in Brisbane, I explained, and Oprah was in Sydney. ‘That’s fine,’ Amanda replied. ‘Let’s get you on the morning taping so you can go to both Oprah and Bon Jovi – how fun!’ After running through more details, she finally hung up, only to call back moments later. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I just wanted to say, it’s going to be hot, so bring some powder for your face in case you get sweaty.’

We arrived at the Sydney Opera House for the live show and were greeted by the longest line we had ever witnessed in our entire lives. After waiting for about 45 minutes, we heard a voice over the loudspeaker. ‘If you have a green wristband, then please head to the front gate now.’

We looked down – green wristbands! No one else around us had them, so lucky us, we jumped forward. As soon as we reached the front, we were assigned a lovely lady who walked us to our seats. We walked further and further along the pathway, until we finally arrived at two seats in the front row, right next to the stairs, marked by a sign that read: ‘Holmes x 2’.

Over the next hour or so as the rest of the audience filled the seats, Mum and I were randomly approached by various members of Oprah’s team. Many mentioned my submission video – how they’d watched it the previous night at a staff meeting and were elated to see that someone my age, in Australia, was so engaged with their content and conversations.

The show started and was everything I had expected – and more. Finally, my moment! Watching Oprah in front-row seats, in the forecourt of the Opera House, Sydney Harbour sparkling as a backdrop. I would remember this morning forever. We were nearing the end of the show with only one more segment to go and during the break I noticed a cameraman bring Oprah a giant white card. She held it against her chest so we couldn’t see what was written on it.

Mum heard the cameraman say, ‘She’s the one in the colourful shoes and red dress, front row.’ At that exact moment, I saw Oprah look down at my shoes, then back at me, wink and smile. Then, with no further warning, my submission video got blasted on the three screens behind her. In slow motion, I saw my head pop up across the giant screens.

‘Hi! I’m Jenna from Australia.’

Multiple hands tapped and grabbed me from behind. ‘That’s you! That’s you!’

After what felt like five seconds, the video ended and Oprah asked me to stand up in front of the 12,000-strong crowd. She then sang-yelled in her classic Oprah voice, ‘Well, Jenna, I have a sign for YOOOUUUUUU,’ and flipped over an exact replica (font, exclamation marks, smiley faces) of my sign, except it read: ‘I WANT JENNA TO MEET BON JOVI!!’

And, BOOM! Bon Jovi and his band mates came out on stage. By this moment, I was well and truly having what Oprah calls an ‘out of body’ experience – where you are so present in the moment you are unable to recall it. That is exactly what this was. Beyond. Truly beyond.

Bon Jovi sang my two favourite songs while the cameraman filmed my reaction. Although Mum could see him, she assumed they’d cut her out, so she was busting some hardcore dance moves (if you can somehow get your eyes on that Oprah clip, it’s easily the greatest scene of them all!). After Bon Jovi finished, Oprah asked me up on stage to meet Jon. As I walked up, I could see him and his hair walking toward me in slow motion. I literally went weak at my knees when he came up to hug me. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? WHAT IS THIS? THIS IS NOT REAL!

The show ended and people fled to miss the traffic. I was still in shock at what had just unfolded, when a producer of the show approached and asked Mum and me to come backstage to sign a release form. We headed into Oprah’s green room which, as you can imagine, was a stunningly beautiful space set out with comfy couches, flowers and lots of food. By now I was feeling elated, but exhausted and ready to go (I had to get to Brisbane for Bon Jovi’s concert, remember!), so I was a little deflated when, instead of quickly grabbing my signature, the staff members directed us to grab some refreshments and take a seat.

My feelings changed when, moments later, in casual clothes and flat shoes, Oprah glided on in – alone, no team. As she proceeded to get some food, she oh-so-casually said, ‘Hi, Jenna. How wild was that, huh?’ then walked over to my mum and me. Over what felt like two hours (but was more like 15 minutes), I sat on the couch, casually talking to Oprah about my life and hers, eating salad.

Me + salad bowl + Oprah was the exact scene from my vision board. I had set an intention, visualised what I wanted, given everything I had to it, then let go of the outcome. Hey presto – IT FUCKING WORKED!

Soon after, Oprah’s team arrived and she was rushed off to the next engagement, but not before I shared a letter I wrote to her, started by my 13-year-old self and finished by my 20-year-old self, thanking her for the enormous impact her teachings had gifted me. It acknowledged that had she not so authentically shared herself I would not have been encouraged to do the same. My nine-, 13-, 21-, 33-, 57- and 88-year-old selves will be eternally grateful to have been one of her students because, no doubt, her impact has been monumental. As we left, the team gave us the ‘Bon Jovi’ sign. Both it and my original vision board have pride of place in my childhood bedroom to this day.

The lesson from this story has shaped my entire life, as I was able to see the power of manifestation at work in real life through such a big-impact event – and this is how most of my life seems to be, if I am honest. Loud lessons, big thoughts. In a way, I was at the right time and age to learn such a lesson, as if the Universe was graduating me from high school to UNIVERS-ity and I was getting a very loud crash course in the basics. But, with OPRAH WINFREY. Far-fucking-out, huh? This has led me to establish a foundational underpinning to my days, which is to:

* Visualise where I want to go.

* Take the necessary steps forward and stay focused.

* Let go of controlling the journey and the outcome.

* Arrive where I am meant to be.

* Take any roadblock or redirection as a gift.

There is a cycle and a process to achieving your dreams and your goals, all of them being entirely possible if you are: first, able to distinguish exactly what you want; and second, willing to accept that roadblocks along the way are inevitable, so let go, but never give up. The Universe won’t grant your desires if it can’t hear you. It does not know how to decipher rambling Randall! It needs clear intentions, spoken concisely and directly – and wants to know what you are bringing to the table so it doesn’t get the raw end of the deal, and fair enough I say. The Universe has a large clientele to serve.

If you follow this practice, you’ll go to work on your intentions and feel that nothing is happening for a while – that’s the Universe testing whether you’re going to give up or stay focused. You see, that’s the trick it plays, to see how badly you want this thing. Take heart, as the blessed thing always follows the worst thing. Once the Universe sees you doing the hard work, showing up every day and sticking to the deal you made, then just watch and see what shows up. Cross my heart and hope to die. Socks will be knocked off.

Text from With Love, Chaos & Rigatoni by Jenna Holmes, Penguin Random House Australia RRP $35, available in bookstores across Australia.