Tomorrow's Another Day

I just came from watching Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle discuss his latest book, A New Earth, on her first live online class. I only got to see the first 10 minutes of it, as my poor wireless connection became stretched beyond its limits and could no longer compete with the onslaught of viewers logged on to this historic event. After a series of intermittent stalls and pauses, the video just stopped altogether. And trying to get back on was impossible, so I just gave up and logged out.

I worked really hard to prepare for this. I set my computer up just as was instructed in the pre-class emails and downloaded a particular viewer called Move that was going to stream everything. I also downloaded the Worksheet for Chapter 1, re-read the chapter, digging much deeper into it than I had the first time, and proceeded to fill out all but one of the questions. (I felt like I needed more time with it.) And I made sure I was online 30 minutes before time (even though they said 15).

I was almost too prepared for this. In fact, I probably was (not with all the things I did, as they were required, but emotionally). This was the first selection from Oprah’s Book Club that I actually read, and the first time I participated in any of the online stuff, so I really wanted to be there with it. And I was.

When Oprah came on and welcomed us to the class, I was so aware and impressed by the knowledge that thousands of people just like me were plugged in to their computers and looking at the exact same thing I was. It was historical. And I was a part of it, even for a little while. So as disappointed as I was to miss the rest of the conversation tonight, as well as the calls and emails people will be making, I take comfort in knowing that I can download the entire webcast from Oprah’s site tomorrow and watch it as many times as I want.