As a practicing fourth generation psychic, I have had the good fortune to travel to dozens of countries and to meet the most wonderful and interesting people along the way. I recently went to visit some new and old friends in Tokyo, Japan, a place I have strong attachments to, and also I visited Eugene Oregon, a place where I created new friendships. Even though the 'worlds' of these two places are far apart, the similarities are still there. It is the people, all of whom are evolving into higher consciousness, who center me by taking a direction that is different in life. In ever place there are people of courage, those who take risks traveling to a new country or take risks by questioning the life that they have now.
 I am much more acquainted with Tokyo then Eugene, In fact I went to Eugene via Tokyo due to a client I had met in that huge city. Now I can say that Sandy in Eugene, an example of the kind of evolving people I've met, is my friend. Sandy was gracious to invite me to Eugene, welcome me into her home to stay and she also introduced me to her wide circle of friends.  In just this way, several months ago, my former favorite neighbor in the whole wide world and his partner welcomed me to stay in their home in Tokyo and threw me an amazing party. How are these two gracious people and their invitations similar? Community is the key word here, the New Age community is creating a wider evolving Community that now is surrounding the world. The way it survives is like any community; kindred souls support each other. The same support that Tess at Stargazers gives me and the Community and the same support The New Times offers to all of you reading this here in the Northwest.
 I have come to realize through these experiences that this evolving Community is the key to the spiritual work we are here to do. It is with all these people as inspiration that I decided to open The Wisdom Center , a gathering and learning circle that will meet every second Thursday in Shoreline, my neighborhood. I never thought of myself as a leader or a center of Community, but I think Spirit moves us all to do what we can. I have been repeatedly asked to do something like this, but only recently started seriously thinking about it. Then, in an amazing way, things fell into place very quickly. I knew, deep down, that I had to transfer my base of operations home to my community, to create part of the larger evolving spiritual Community. It has been difficult for me to get beyond my family's tradition of being a home based psychic. Now, my inner Voice tells me, is the time to become more involved in the wider Community of Spirit..
 I spent many years living in Tokyo where I did readings and also worked as a photographer. I came back to Seattle, but always knew that my work was not finished in Tokyo, that I had to go back and do readings. Actually it was because I got so many calls from people always asking the same question; When are you coming back? When are you going to give us readings and workshops again? My son was too young when we returned to Seattle in 1993 for me to leave to travel half-way around the world to, but now that he is a big five-year old, my husband agreed to stay home with him. So, I was soon off to Tokyo! I started my trip off by giving a lecture at The Circle of Light  a perfect example of the evolving Community, a spiritual community of international people who have a lecturer come in once a month. They also have a newsletter and coordinate many different types of services.  I have been associated with this Circle in the past and so I was very happy to go back to give another lecture and I was amazed at the warmth and support they gave me, even after a 3-year absence! At The Circle of Light gathering there were many different  people from around the world. Although the lecture was in English, people from Australia, Canada. New Zealand, England. Ireland, USA, Israel, South America, Japan, and other counties that I could not even name were all gathered there to share, learn and communicate. All of us had the same dedication to self- growth and to the development of a 'new age.' It was great to catch up also with the varied and exciting interests of others. So many wandering souls travels around the world under one roof, what was everybody looking for? Have they found it? I spoke about how to 'find your psychic gift,' discovering what each person's ability is. For example, are you a healer, a reader of the future or is your gift some other thing?
 After I finished my lecture I went to stay at my friend Donald's house, a beautiful old wooden Japanese home that is  filled with treasures from the orient so beautiful that it was recently featured in a magazine. I stayed upstairs and had a floor all to myself. I slept on an elegant white chaise lounge and I felt like a nice fat cat sleeping in paradise. I missed my Tokyo friends while was away and it was great to visit them in between doing my readings in another place downtown. I had all my readings booked in advance, my friend Tom was gracious enough to let me use his apartment. It was wonderful to have a place that was so centrally located in a great neighborhood.  I had people from over 15 countries come to see me, yet it was amazing how similar people really are around the world. My Tokyo clients all had similar questions;  "What should I invest in?" "Should I move?"  "When will I find a mate?" "Should I get a new job?" And of course there were many questions about their spiritual paths. What struck me the most was how different these people were, yet how similar their goals, needs and aspirations were to the people that I regularly see here in the Northwest. I introduced my system of playing card readings and that was a big hit along with my regular psychic readings.  It was fascinating to see what people on the other side of the planet thought, of my family's traditional way of reading the cards. Though I seldom missed my home during those exciting weeks, people in Tokyo kept telling me that they had always wanted to visit Seattle. They wanted to know if I knew of a place there similar to the Circle of Light where they could study, maybe with me.  It made me think a lot more of Community and of home.
 It was at this time that the beginning of the idea for a 'larger community center' began to roll around in my mind. I knew that it was something I had to do and I could not forget it.  The people in Tokyo who come to see me are often people with money, but, I thought, what about those who have little resources? I started to worry about this, what if those with such resources were the only ones who could afford to study metaphysics or psychic development? Would that leave truth seekers out of our larger Community? When I returned to the USA, a very inexpensive place to hold meetings in Shoreline almost literally fell into my lap. Once again, the Universe provides when needed and so I am able to charge very little for my monthly gatherings to cover costs.
 I learned more about community while I was in Eugene. After I returned from my sojourn to Tokyo, I received a call from an old friend, one thing led to another and, much to the chagrin of my family, I was off again! One of the women who help set up everything for me there was Nancy who is a community expert. I learned a lot by watching her. I learned even more from all the friends that she sent to me for readings. They came from all over Oregon. In the small towns that they live in or come from they all had a strong sense of who they were and of their roots. Being tied to the land and to their families and friends give them all a deep sense of self. I enjoyed them all and learned much. I gave a lecture at a bookstore called Peralandra. They were kind to let me give a lecture at their store. I was well received and treated with respect, yet few knew me at all!  How similar this all was to that other Community I had just left in Tokyo! The New Age is doing well in Eugene. Arlene, a brilliant astrologer, was open enough to allow me to use her reading room just as Tom had in Tokyo. She never viewed me as competition and her husband never minded the people walking through his home. I loved doing readings in such an accepting place. In Tokyo when you where done with a reading, people rushed off, everyone is in a hurry to go back to their jobs. Not in Eugene! Frequently I would come out of the reading room and the living room would be filled with alive, vivacious women  all chatting.  Here it was in action, it was really a sense of common community.
 Everywhere I have traveled, people have been helpful to me on my journey. When doing good for the Community, the right people always appear to help. We all must stay together to find some sort of common grounding in our Community of Spirit. Really, the main idea that keeps popping up in my mind is that there is really always enough to go around. Enough readings, enough energy, enough resources, enough for all of us to share. I am now involved in a women's group in my neighborhood where we focus a lot on sharing and on alternative economy, what a great idea this is! One women who I met in Eugene said she was going to start a women's investment group, a wonderful idea. The 'New Age' is taking root in such gatherings of people and strategies.
  The key, always it seems is how we come together, the spirit we create when we join together, this is what will help us grow and evolve, whether we are in Tokyo, Seattle, Eugene or...? I feel very fortunate to be able to do the work that I love and to travel and to be received by such diverse people. Today the New Age Community is global, it is everywhere. Where ever we go, wherever we do our Work, there it will flower. From the farming communities of America to the biggest city in the world, there is no stopping The Community.