Oprah is on the move and she’s as good as you remember! I bought a ticket to the 2020 Vision tour for her stop in Atlanta. FYI, It’s a day-long event, a pretty important detail that was overlooked in the ticket information when I made my purchase!
Let me say, the ticket is well worth the money. 2020 Vision is a workshop dedicated to helping everyone create a plan to build a life in which the mind, body and spirit are in balance. Upon arrival, each seat held a goody bag with Oprah’s name. It had a workbook filled with exercises for the day. There were also some samples of products and a voucher for lunch. Nice touch!
The day was great! The morning session was filled with Oprah talking and sharing stories in a lecture format, as always though, she’s inspiring. The foundation for the day is identifying one word that will become your “2020 Vision”. She then takes you through supporting exercises with and without the workbook to help create the focus necessary to transform your “word” into your manifesto for 2020. During the afternoon session, she has a guest speaker and continues to share more about herself and how she ended up where she is. I’ve broken the day down into more detail below.
Great music greeted us when we arrived at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Shortly after 9:00, the day started with some dancing and motivational words provided by Daybreaker. Their goal: “to ignite all five senses and dance with reckless abandon, sober, first thing in the morning.” This lasted about an hour and got everyone out of their seat and fully engaged!
Around 10:00, Oprah took the stage. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Oprah speak, and let me tell you, she’s exactly as you remember. Despite all of her fame and fortune she is still so relatable. She’s been away from the spotlight for years, and I’d forgotten just how great she is! She came out on stage, and it was just like the old days with her show. She was immediately at ease talking to me (and 12,000 other “me”s) like my best friend would. It’s amazing, really, how someone with so much brings it all back to the most basic thing that we all share, the human condition. We are a work in progress, and Oprah would be the first to say that she is too. This is a life long journey-one we are all on together, and we are better for sharing, learning from and helping each other.
A brief break during the morning session was a short meditation led by Jesse Isreal from The Big Quiet. He kicks off the session with some basic guidelines for the mediation and a reminder to be gentle with ourselves; this is a process! Pretty cool to sit with 12,000 people in near silence and a great way to refocus for the balance of the morning.
The session breaks for a lunch that’s included with your ticket. Following lunch, Julianne Hough comes on stage to get everyone out of their seats and moving again. By the time Oprah returns to the stage, everyone’s re-energized for the afternoon session. The afternoon is comprised of a guest speaker or Visionary, interviewed by Oprah and more sharing that’s geared to motivate even the least interested attendee! The guest speakers change with each location; Dwayne Johnson was the Atlanta guest. He shared stories about his life, how he’s dealing with the recent passing of his father and his secrets for success. A great interview, and of course, motivational!!
As great as Oprah is, at no time does she sugar-coat things and pretend that life isn’t hard. She calls out her own difficult times, both public and private, and shares deeply personal stories. Some I had heard, and some I hadn’t. You walk away knowing that she has worked hard both in her craft and in her soul to be where she is now. I highly recommend attending one of these, if you are able. There’s probably very little here that I haven’t heard at some point, yet there’s so much to be gained from having it consolidated into one day. Thanks, Oprah for giving me an excuse to dedicate a whole day to me (and ultimately the people in my life). It is something that I NEVER do.
