Visiting Nora and Jon

Today I took a twisty, turny drive through California wine and olive country to see Nora and Jon. They live in Guerneville in a beautiful hilly, tree-protected area near Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Their home is bright and airy and features many places to sit outside and enjoy the breeze, the hummingbirds, and Nora’s secret recipe iced tea.

I first met Nora and Jon in Chicago when we were all living there. She is a channel, he is a musician, and they are both reiki masters. For my 33rd birthday, my friend Julie got me a channeling session with Nora. I had been to palm and tarot card readers in the past and fancied myself open to psychic information, notwithstanding the cheesiness of things like Madame Cleo and the Psychic Friends Network. People trust their guts and have intuitions all the time, and I have always liked the idea of synchronicity, though the release of the 1983 Police album of the same name was the first time I had ever actually heard the word. It makes me happy to think about unexplained coincidences and leave open the possibility that there are unseen benevolent forces orchestrating them.

That being said, I wasn’t prepared for what happened when Nora channeled for me. I can’t remember exactly what she was talking about, but I remember being overcome with emotion (read: starting to sob uncontrollably). So much so that I had to lie down on the reiki table in Jon’s studio (that’s how I first met Jon. Lucky Jon.). it was like that line in Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack: I felt she found my letters and read each one out loud. Like some core, incredibly vulnerable part of me was being exposed. Not judged or injured, just treated to he light of day for the first time ever.

Poor Julie. She got a session for herself too, right after mine. When I came out of Nora’s office having completely lost it, not only did she feel bad that her birthday present to me was, um, overwhelming, but she had to be wondering what the hell she had gotten HERSELF into. And should she make a break for it? But her session was fun and gave her some new ways to think about her life patterns and choices, which is what I had been hoping for with mine.

But after the storm had passed, I felt lighter, like I had gotten rid of some baggage. I started consulting Nora regularly and have done so since then.

I’m not evangelical about Nora in particular or channeling in general. I love to talk about it, and tarot cards, which I’ve been reading for a couple years now (Nora uses them to channel). But she has been extremely helpful to me, which is why I continue to consult with her. I credit her for helping me learn to take complete responsibility for my life. My expectations and beliefs are responsible for the experiences I have, and if I don’t like what I’m experiencing, then I need to look at what I’m doing and believing to bring those experiences to me.

I never would have had the courage to take this “vision quest” if I hadn’t started to think about the world and my life differently, and Nora gave me some of the tools I needed to start doing that. And since I’m becoming increasingly convinced that taking this trip is the best decision I’ve made in a long time and possibly ever, I’m really grateful to her.

I had taken tarot reading and channeling classes with Nora and Jon before, and feel like I know them fairly well, but this was the first time we had socialized. I was a little—not apprehensive about it because I know we all care about each other, but it was different, so I was kind of wired before I saw them. I think they felt the difference too, because they said they consulted the cards before I arrived. When I asked what they said, Nora said they said I was a little high strung lately (sometimes channeled information = what you already know) and that she and Jon needed to make sure not to take any of it on themselves.

Well, we had a GREAT visit. They have built a beautiful life for themselves, supported by their reiki practice and channeling clients, in a geographic location that suits them much more than Chicago seemed to. (This is something I am looking for too! You’re your fingers crossed that I get a “hit” on someplace while I’m on my trip.) They drove me around some of the surrounding towns, including to the Willow Wood Restaurant

where we had an amazing dinner, and to Andy’s Market in Sebastopol


where I bought amazing fruits and veggies. (In the above pic, see if you can make out the stains on my shirt, from eating while driving. It’s sad, really. Also notice the perfect shadow on Jon's shirt of the nice lady who took our picture.)

Thanks again to Nora and Jon, who showed me great hospitality and love. I look forward to being able to return the favor when I find a place to land—assuming they will ever leave their little haven!