Aside | Formats | Irresistible Chaos

I received a message in my email saying that Oprah’s Lifeclass was going on tour and that tickets would be chosen at random the following day. I quickly found the page on their website and submitted my request for two tickets to the New York show taping with Deepak Chopra or Tony Robbins. But in all honestly, I figured it was just shot in the dark, some marketing scheme that would pick one in a million submissions.

About a week later, I received an email stating that we had been selected for tickets to the Tony Robbins Lifeclass, the evening show on April 2, 2012 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. I had to re-read the email over & over again to make sure it was true. I was in disbelief. The Oprah Winfrey show had been on the air for 25 years and we had never been able to score a single audience ticket, we could rarely even get through on the phone line, and now, this email was stating that we had actually been chosen for tickets to her Lifeclass show in New York City. Part of me felt like I was on a hidden camera show and someone was going jump in front of me and say “Just Kidding, you’ve been PUNKED”….

The show was just over a month away. My heart fluttered with excitement. Who would I take with me as my guest? Afterall, we only had tickets to the show. The flight, hotel, and everything else would be at our own expense. Who would want to go? Who could go? Who loved Oprah as much as I did? The first person that came to mind was my Mom, who I quickly ruled out because she was across the world teaching on the tiny island of Guam and she wouldn’t be available on such short notice. Then I thought of my twin sister. Yes, we were kinda “on the rocks” and not as close as we once were, but she was the only person who I thought might appreciate the experience as much as I would.

When I asked her, she immediately said yes. I jumped up and down with sheer excitement, like a 6 year old who’s parents just told them they were going to DISNEYWORLD. Not only was I going to see my idol, but I was going to have my twin sister along with me to share the experience. It was absolutely perfect.

When we arrived at Radio City Music Hall on April 2^nd for the evening show, the air was sparkling with excitement. Women were everywhere, ecstatic to be there, arm-in-arm with their best girlfriends or sisters, smiling ear to ear, and all dressed up. Photos were snapping nonstop, people were documenting their experience at every inch of the theatre.

We were shown to our seats. We got pre-selected to sit in the very front section in the Orchestra seating area. It think it was because of our reply to an email of theirs inquiring about us. We told a story of our last experience together in New York City, being stuck in the power blackout of 2003. They either wanted to give us a better memory of NYC or they were rewarding us for flying all the way from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We were so grateful to be seated just a few rows away from the stage.

When Oprah walked out onto the stage it was like I wasn’t even there. It almost didn’t feel real. After her show on ABC had ended, I hadn’t seen her in several months, so seeing her felt like seeing an old friend, one whom I had religiously watched on TV practically every single day for as far back as I can remember.

I could hardly notice the deafening cheering around me. It was like I was watching her on television. She had the same voice, the same smile, the same sense of humor, the same mannerisms. She was larger than life, yet her presence was calming & peaceful. Her face translated as love to me. It was familiar, genuine, full of light & love. She had a warmth about her, a positive energy that brought tears to my eyes. I felt so blessed to be in her presence.

Everything that she has done in her life has been to help other people. Whether it be through her charitable organizations or though the work she does on her shows, she’s committed to success of humanity. Committed to help us grow, cope with, and overcome things. Help us become the best that we can be. Help us forgive others, and forgive ourselves. She’s a true humanitarian of our times, a modern day Mother Teresa.

She may not be directly living amongst & feeding the poor but she sure could have taken all of her wealth & riches and ran off to live on her own private island decades ago. Yet, she didn’t. She chose to continue to use her life, her influence, her platform, to encourage & inspire others to find their own strength and their life’s ultimate destiny. She’s truly selfless, and a world class example of what true wealth is made of: The wealth inside of your heart & soul. She is my hero.

She was so funny and real too. During a commercial break (it was being aired live on the OWN network), she joked about her high heels hurting her feet so she promptly took them off and gave them to a screaming fan in front row. She also joked around with the guest speaker, Tony Robbins. They were both really candid with each other.

From where we were sitting, the sound was really echo’y. We thought that might have been from the way they had to have the speakers positioned for the live feed, so we had a hard time following the dialog at times. Tony Robbins’ loud booming voice really echoed alot so it was harder to understand him, distracting mostly. But we got what we needed to out of the Lifeclass: How to live fearlessly. Tony was such an enthusiastic and positive guy. Oprah spoke about how his support & encouragement prompted her to walk on firey hot coals, something she didn’t believe she could do.

End the end, echo or not, you could have put me on a tiny boat in the middle of shark infested waters with Tony & Oprah and I would have felt so grateful for the experience of just being there to hear these great inspirational icons and absorb all the wisdom they had to share. Seeing an Oprah Winfrey show in person (and at world famous Radio City Music Hall in the heart of New York city no less) is now happily checked off of my Bucket List. Whew.