No amount of shopping, packing or organizing could have prepared me for the weekend I had in NYC. You see..it was somewhat of a trifecta. Landing in rain, it felt as if the city was being cleansed and prepared for the insane amount of love and positive energy that was about to envelope it.
Before class even began, my sister and I met up with several of the OWN Ambassadors and a twitter crew who had come from near and far. The most eclectic and entertaining group of people I have been around in a long time. We all sat around a table for 12 in our own private room at Chef Art Smith’s and Lady Gaga’s parents’ amazing restaurant, Joanne’s. A table filled with artists, dreamers and muses…the room was alive with excitement and laughter. Before drinks could even be ordered, two of our favorite OWN staffers, Maya Watson and Noel Kehoe, squeezed in to bring the room to a comfortable hug.
Admist stories of first encounters with Oprah…including the famous Aussie taco one, it was clear that each person in the room had been touched by the wave of positive energy in one way or another. Taking a moment to look around, I realized there were lifetimes of stories..and all of them led to this tiny brick room in the Upper West Side. Closing the restaurant, I knew that the following day was suppose to be even better. I just wasn’t sure how it could top the last 4 hours.
Now, originally when my sister and I were invited, we were set to attend both lifeclasses with Deepak and Tony Robbins AND a special meeting with Oprah. Sworn to secrecy, I held onto the information with a huge smile for far longer than I thought I could, reminding me that I am a good secret keeper. However, life had different plans.
Upon arriving, my sister and I learned that we would only be able to attend the Tony session…but most importantly we still were getting our picture taken with Oprah. Feeling it was the universe reminding us to slow down and breathe, we just went with it.
Making our way into New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall, I quickly found familiar faces from the previous night’s dinner…and met a few more twitter friends along the way. Watching people being escorted to Oprah’s side, I couldn’t help but find my eyes drawn to Gayle King and thinking about how generous she had been to us. There I was in a room with both O and G and it was amazing. As the line to her got shorter and shorter, a little nervousness creeped in. Luckily a kind model in front of us gave us a quick lesson in posing…which I totally forget in the moment!
As we were ushered to Oprah’s side…a bit like Santa…I fumbled to find a place for my purse. By the time I handed it off and turned around, I almost missed the photo entirely. Jumping to Oprah’s side as she repeated my sister’s name while they turned to the camera, I took my place by her side, a familiar place. I had been standing by her and her network from day one. I was frozen and am certain the photo will prove it. However, in that moment it wasn’t about Oprah. I was part of something bigger…a collective one. BUT I must say, I totally need a do-over!
The rest of the night was filled with new friends and plenty of Tony Robbins’ fire. He actually gave the 30 minute warm-up which had all of us on our feet dancing and screaming. The outside world could easily have thought we were one snake short of a whacked out church. As the commercial breaks occasionally simmered the fire, Tony was unstoppable and honestly amazing. Spilling out into the lobby to reconnect and meet up with our spiritual sister, the Pop Culture Passionistas, my sister and I paused to take it all in. This really happened and this was my life….and it just the beginning!