Sunday, October 26, 2008

O! You

Sunday, October 26, 2008
Yesterday, 3999 women, 13 men and I attended Oprah's O! You event in San Francisco. It was a warm and sunny day in the city as our tribe lined up around the Moscone Center. People were there from all over the world and I could feel the love and energy in the air. It was electric!

Oprah's BFF, Gayle King, cranked us up with warm welcome. She surprised us all with an announcement that Oprah would be flying in from her home in Santa Barbara to join us by the end of the day. Oprah and her personal trainer, Bob Greene, were there filming a segment for one of her New Year's week shows. Even though Oprah had not planned to be there, Gayle had talked her into joining. Lucky us!

The first of 4 speakers I had selected to see was life coach, Martha Beck. I was in awe as Martha spoke to us. She had decided to speak not about her tried and true 7 rules for living a good life, but rather about her true rules . Rules she had never dared speak out loud. And it was so real and true and inspiring that there were no dry eyes in the house. I pray she writes a book based on these real rules!

Next, I moved on to hear Marianne Williamson speak for the ten thousandth time. I can't help it - I adore her. She is so clear and articulate. She said that we all now know the spiritual principles by which we should be living - indeed, we have all read the same books and learned the lessons. Now, the task was to use these lessons in our real lives. In other words, how to live with spiritual integrity when we may dislike the person in front of us, seriously hate our jobs or live in fear when we hear the latest economic or wartime news. Perfect timing, Marianne!

After lunch, I lightened up and attended Stacy London's talk. Stacy is the co-host of TLC's "What Not to Wear". She is one bawdy broad and I love her! She was hilarious and had great advice for all of us in how to best dress our imperfectly perfect bods.

Then, I had the pleasure to see Nate Berkus (interior designer extraordinaire). He made the point that our homes should be a sanctuary for us in these crazy and uncertain times. And it should reflect our true selves and how we live - not some "perfect model-home" ideal. I have believed in and have hopefully practiced these principles for years now, but I could see women around me making that connection for the first time. It truly is important that our environment be a welcoming, nurturing and safe place for ourselves and family! Nate is so darn adorable, one woman stood up and told him that he made her wish she was a gay man! He roared with laughter and said "but you're not - you're still a woman!" Ha!

Oprah came on the main stage at the end of the day and spoke for nearly an hour. She reminded us that we each have a special gift to share with the world, and must not be tempted to shrink from doing so. We each have a purpose and a mission. Also, it was vitally important that we gift ourselves with days like this. We all need to "fill our wells" and have community with other like minded souls. I do indeed feel "filled up", re-charged and uplifted!

(Shout out to my new friend Laurie! Hope you made it back up those 129 steps okay! And hi to my travelin' pardner, Norma! Thanks for an adventurous train ride!)

2 comments:

katja said...

Hey, sugar! What a great weekend you had! 4,000 women? Really? Yikes!

I love what you wrote about Marianne Williamson! Perfect timing indeed.

And lucky you to see Oprah at all, never mind about for nearly an hour!!

I, too, feel enriched by my story-telling weekend, about which more tomorrow, I think.

So happy for you that you found nourishment too!

The Muse said...

I am happy that you had FUN !