#23: Get my fortune told

A few weeks ago one of my good friends emailed me, and said she could help me with #23 on the 101 list if I wanted. One of her friends hosts a party every now and again where a group of women come over to her house, enjoy appetizers, socialize – and step downstairs for 30 minutes at a time to sit individually with a psychic.

My friend said she has attended these parties before, and that she always leaves feeling like she received something beneficial. I trust my friend, so I thought this would be a terrific way to complete #23 on the list. That, and the price was right. Plus, I’d get to meet some other potentially cool people. And, there would be free food. You really can’t go wrong with free food.

When I told my friend I was in, she told the hostess. The hostess then sent me an appointment time – with a caveat that psychics don’t always stay ‘on schedule’. I was told that before I left my house, it might be a good idea to call ahead to the party and see how the schedule was running – and be ready to adjust my plans if needed. Sure enough, a few hours before my appointment time my friend texted me, letting me know that the psychic was running about an hour behind. No problem; I just delayed my departure time.

I arrived to the party a full 30 minutes early (according to the new schedule); however, when I walked in the door my friend greeted me with a simultaneous hug/rambling sentence of “the-psychic-is-ready-for-you-if-you’re-ready!” Um wow, okay… Still in the entryway, I quickly kicked off my shoes, spun around to face the interior of the house, and began walking blindly into a home I have never visited before. I was led down a half-flight of stairs, and literally seconds after arriving on scene found myself sitting on a very plush sofa next to J, the psychic.

J had a very soothing air about her; a nurturing, gentle, sincere warmness. I instantly (literally, instantly) felt calm, relaxed, and open. It was pretty powerful mojo – and I had only placed my rear on the seat. Wow.

J smiled at me, and asked me what I would like to discuss. Thank goodness my friend had prepared me by encouraging me to arrive at the party with a question I wanted to explore – otherwise, I think (know) I likely would have stared blankly at the psychic, stammering “uh uh uh um…”. Instead, I was able to reply, “I would like to talk about my job/career/general life purpose.” The psychic laughed (a fun, authentic, truly affable laugh), smiled, and said, “Oh, is that all?” in a slightly teasing tone. But in the next second she got very serious.

I am still processing what occurred in the 30 minutes I spent with this woman. I’m not going to share many of the details in this public space, because honestly, what transpired was (surprisingly) deeply personal. Within seconds of laying her eyes on me, this woman cut right to my core – and she was spot on. She voiced details and characteristics about me that it has taken months (if not years) for some of my closest friends to uncover and know. She put everything out there – laid all of my ‘stuff’ out in front of the both of us on the metaphorical table. Yet for as factual and incisive as she was, she was simultaneously empathetic and gentle. It was a very interesting balance of direct, frank, unapologetic honesty; and soothing, compassionate tenderness. It was pretty wild.

She identified my #1 life problem (which I had already known, but hadn’t told her – so the confirmation was nice); then, after a bit of puzzling on her side, she arrived at the key solution I need to enact to move past the current barrier I am facing. When she told me the solution, it was also something I have known for a while – but I honestly just don’t know how to implement it successfully. I have been trying to work through the issue for quite some time – and while I have made some decent progress, clearly there is more that needs to be done (’cause if there wasn’t any more work to be done, the issue would be gone by now)…and I just don’t know what additional/different actions I can take.

So after hearing the ‘diagnosis’ and the ‘prescription’, I told J that I was in full agreement with her assessments – but that I needed help moving from problem to solution. I have a firm grasp of the issue, and I know what success will look and feel like (so when I really have worked through the issue and am truly ‘done’, I am confident I will know that I have ‘arrived’), but I just don’t know the steps to take to walk from problem to solution. Almost immediately, J gave me three homework items that she said would address my issue. “They will require both persistence and patience,” she explained, “but if you do them consistently, and allow them to work – they will.” Patience is not always my strong suit, but I have reached a point where I really am ready to move forward in my life – and I know that this issue is holding me back. So I nodded my head in agreement, and told her I would do them.

She smiled, then asked me if there was anything more I wanted to discuss with her. I laughed. “Nope,” I said, “I think you’ve given me more than enough to address right now.” She laughed as well, nodding her head in agreement with me. She gave me her card, and told me to call her if anything comes up in the next few weeks as I begin completing my homework. “I want to be a resource for you,” she explained, “I really do want to do what I can to help. If you need anything, please do call.”

I looked at her face, and I could tell she absolutely meant it. My heart warmed and grew in the presence of her genuine care and generosity. What an incredible spirit.

I took her card, thanked her again, picked up my jacket and purse from the sofa, and walked up the stairs where my friend sat waiting for me. “Well?” my friend asked excitedly, “How did it go? What did you think?”

I proceeded to tell my friend all of the details I could recount of my exchange with J, and my friend nodded her head in agreement, her eyes wide with both wonder and delight. A few minutes later a few other women joined the table where my friend and I were sitting, and the four of us engaged in conversation about our time spent with J, which quickly segued into us sharing rather personal details of our lives. And it all felt completely ‘fine’. In fact, it felt better than ‘fine’ – it felt wonderful. It felt warm, comforting. It felt relaxing. It felt enjoyable. It felt like friendship.

I didn’t have any expectations of what ‘getting my fortune told’ might be like. When I wrote the item down on the list, I did it partly as a lark, and partly out of genuine curiosity. I kind of imagined myself walking into some ‘mystic’ parlor, sitting at a table with tarot cards or an army of candles or a lot of cats roaming around my feet. I never thought I would be at the house of a friend-of-a-friend, munching on dessert and having a few kids and a dog running around. When I thought about item #23, I didn’t know if I would get much (if anything) out of the experience – but I suspected at the very least I would have a story to tell. As it turns out, I got a heck of a lot more than what I could have ever even hoped for. I definitely “got my money’s worth”.

Stef