“We are here to turn up the volume on your life.” – Oprah Winfrey
The volume on my life has been cranked – way up!
With anticipation running through me, I drove to San Jose this weekend. I was excited for a few reasons. I had been invited to cover Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend AND I was going to get some alone time. I looked forward to loads of inspiration, resting and getting work done. The only thing I managed to accomplish was being supremely inspired! Once I hit the road to come back home on Sunday, I felt nothing short of transformed.
With more than 10,000 people in an arena, the whole event managed to feel like an intimate gathering. A gathering of people who shared one goal – holding the pencil that writes our life stories. The energy was electric. There were dance parties like this all weekend.
It was amazing to be around so many people who all greeted each other with smiles and hugs. So what that we’d all just met. It was like some alternate universe that we all wished flowed from the arena and permeated our cities.
I had many “aha moments” and just moments of confirmation.
Oprah started things off on Friday night by sharing her life story. There were many things I hadn’t heard before and it was awesome to get those details straight from the source. Her message was looking for the thread that connects the dots of your life.
“The thread is your spirit seeking expression. Your thread is that which connects the dots and experiences of your life and allows you to become who you were meant to be. Everybody has their own thread. What is your thread? What’s your purpose? Why are you here? What is that which connects the dots of your life? Your job is to pay attention to whatever that is.”
As she spoke, all around me I saw tears, hands were raised in affirmation and one woman even let out a shout. You know the kind that only happen in church. It was definitely a spiritual experience.
On Saturday, class was in session. We were all handed workbooks as we walked in. It was clear, this is where the real work was going to begin.
Deepak Chopra was the first to take the stage. He talked a lot about spirituality and how to find that connection for yourself. “Religion,” he said, “is believing in someone else’s experience. Spirituality is believing in your own. If someone’s pointing at the moon, you should be looking at the moon, not worshiping the person’s finger.” His talk led to him leading us in meditation. I had never meditated before. It was a great experience for me. I plan on incorporating it into my life.
Elizabeth Gilbert of “Eat, Pray, Love”was up next and she talked about going on a quest of self-discovery. She talked about dreams and knowing when it’s time to change your life. We were reminded that change isn’t painless but it’s so necessary!
Pastor Rob Bell spoke of living RIGHT NOW. He used the example of saving the good china for special occasions when none of us really know if we’re going to be here tomorrow let alone for that special occasion. All we really have is right now. Use the china now, live the life you want now.
Once Iyanla Vanzant took her turn we were all worked up, on fire and brimming with excitement. She definitely kept it going. Her whole talk was about life and the ups and downs that come with it. She asked that we all remember that life really is on our side. Those things we go through are for a reason. There are lessons in all of it to get us to the next level. We have the choice of repeating those lessons or learning and growing from them to move toward the life we want.
The common them for all that spoke is that they had been knocked down by life. They had experienced real stuff and were able to bounce back to gain the life they wanted. Once they day was over we were all emotionally drained and full at the same time. I exchanged information with all the people that sat near me.
A few of us even made a pact to not lose what we’d gained that weekend. We have promised to hold each other accountable to going, full force after the life it is that we want. The first step, is embracing the life you already have.
