The Gift of Renée
O’Connor
The “Awareness” Seminar with
Renée O’Connor in London,
16.May 2010
by Kristina Niemann (aka
BlueSkyOne)
On Sunday 16.May 2010,
twenty-two mostly European
"fans" from ten different
countries were coming
together at the Sheraton
Hotel Heathrow, London, to
spend a whole day with Renée
O’Connor, and each other.
But this was not your
regular “meet & greet”. No,
this was something
different. Something that
certainly has marked me
more, than I would ever have
suspected.
The London seminar was the
first of two Seminars for
which Renée took over the
role of a teacher or rather
facilitator of “Awareness”
for the first time. Renée
does feel very passionate
about sharing and giving
back to others what she has
learned about
“Awareness”
from Mary Rocamora, the
founder of this concept of
personal transformation,
because her teachings have
helped Renée a lot in her
own life.
The task, to introduce a
concept as complex as the
philosophy of “Awareness” to
a group of people who knew
little or nothing about it,
when coming to the seminar,
is an ambitious one. But
Renée went out to take it on
and made it her mission, to
introduce us to the general
ideas of “Awareness” and
some tools that might help
to understand how we
function in terms of our
reaction and perception of
ourselves and the world.
The questions being: How can
I understand my inner self
and what part is my Ego
playing in how I go about my
life? How do I know when my
Ego is trying to hinder me
from reaching whatever I
want to achieve in this
life. How do I recognize
certain pattern of behavior
and what are the triggers
for these patterns to
manifest themselves again
and again? How can I live an
authentic life and how do I
learn to treasure every
moment of it without judging
it?
The day began at 8:30 AM and
ended at about 6:30 PM.
Needless to say that I was
really curious if not
nervous of how this day
would enrol, and how I would
manage to participate facing
those
“strangers”.
But as some of us were
sharing Hotel rooms, I was
lucky to have met three of
the girls the night before
and so we already got to
talk about our expectations
and thoughts about the
upcoming day. That certainly
made it easier for me to go
into that room. So, when I
finally got there after only
4 hours of sleep, some were
already having some
breakfast, others just sat
on couches waiting, others
were standing in small
groups…also
waiting. One by one we all
wandered into this kind of
Atrium and registered first
with Michelle, Renee’s
wonderful Assistant who was
the relaxed, helping hand,
coordinating our wellbeing
all day long, be it food,
drinks, air-condition,
choosing the right t-shirt
size or any other small
enquiry we had. Thanks to
Michelle we also all got
this beautiful group picture
- the way she handled those
20 different cameras simply
was a joy to watch. And she
said to us: “Take your joy
where you find it”…A
sentence I since think about
a lot.
I admit that I almost forgot
my name when Renée all of a
sudden stood beside me and
asked who I was. She had
walked around the room for a
while, greeting everybody
personally, and it seemed
quite surreal to me for a
moment. There certainly was
some excited tension in the
room, but once Renée
addressed us all and shortly
explained what is going to
happen, this tension slowly
disappeared.
She asked everybody to
introduce themselves and it
was great to see and hear
where we all came from:
France, Belgium,
Netherlands, USA, Denmark,
Finland, Germany, England,
Austria and Switzerland.
These first moments of
interaction, like the
laughter of challenging
Names and interesting
reasons for coming to the
seminar, were very important
in order to establish our
group and to get over any
potential “ROC HAZE”. We
then all took our place in
the seminar room…with
notepads, handouts, pencils
and water on our desks, and
an autographed picture,
which I guess we all did not
expect to get.
From whatever I expected of
how Renee would go about
teaching us “Awareness” I
have to say that I am still
in awe of how gracefully yet
determined and concentrated
Renée transmitted her
message to us. She spoke
with such clarity and
compassion, sharing stories
from her life to illustrate
the theory and encouraging
us to ask questions and to
contribute also with
examples from our lives. She
made it so easy for me to
open up and share my
immediate thoughts, which I
did because I felt safe and
among friends. When I was
shaking maybe, while asking
my first question, it surely
became easier and more
natural every minute,
because Renée exuded such
sincerity and real interest
in what each and every one
of us had to say. It was a
real pleasure talking to
Renee and the group because
I felt heard and understood.
During the breaks Renée
would mingle among us,
seeking the company of
somebody to talk to in
person for a while, then
joining another table to sit
with and eat lunch and by
that she offered herself to
us, as we opened ourselves
to her. And all these
precious little moments that
everybody got to share with
Renée and others of the
group, make this day so
special to all of us.
The concentration and
attention and energy were
amazing to feel. Renée
pulled us in with her words
and loving heart and by her
example united a group of
initial strangers to the
point that we all felt
connected. When artificial
categories like “the
actress” and the “fan”
disappear, we are all only
who we are as human beings,
sharing moments, speaking to
one another about the
diversity of life’s
challenges. That was the
beauty of that day and I
believe that we gave a lot
of that love and respect and
enthusiasm back to Renée by
being with her on that day.
Even though I might still
have difficulties of
understanding all aspects of
successfully practicing
“Awareness” - believe me,
there are only questions in
my head - I know that I am
on the right path and that I
already learned. Renée told
us, that all she can do is
to give us the seed, but
that it is up to us to plant
it and see it grow.
So, the most surprising and
exciting element of this one
day to me is, that I made so
many new friends in such a
short period of time. And
the vibrant afterlife of the
Seminar is a great example
of the connectedness of us
as human beings and how one
person can touch the heart
of many and by that affect
change. Meeting Renée, and
all those who attended, has
been a revelation to me and
I realize that it has been a
life altering "moment in the
present". This was one of
the most exciting and
emotional experiences I have
had in a long time and I am
so very grateful for what I
call “the Gift of Renée
O’Connor”.
Kristina
Interesting Links
-
Renee's Awareness Page
-
I Am Aware Information Page
-
Official Renee O'Connor Site
