In what she described as essential advice, Oprah told the graduates that no amount of ambition, talent, or hard work would sustain them without some form of spiritual practice. She was careful to distinguish this from organized religion — for some people, church was the answer, but for others it might be meditation, music, dance, or simply quiet time alone. The point was about nurturing 'that thing that is the essence of you' — the part of yourself that no résumé can capture and no job can satisfy. Oprah had spoken publicly about her own spiritual journey, from her Baptist upbringing to her embrace of meditation and mindfulness, and she believed that this inner work was the foundation upon which everything else was built. Without it, she warned, you would eventually burn out, lose your way, or succeed at something that doesn't actually matter to you.