How fun to head to New York’s Chinatown on a cold February afternoon. Nom Wah Tea Parlor was our first stop, a personal favorite of mine and here we ordered dumplings, egg rolls, fried rice, and of course lots of tea, as well as one of our passions: scallion pancakes.
Afterwards we took a leisurely stroll through the neighborhood and ended up at Magic Jewelry on Centre Street. Not for crystals or jade bracelet shopping, mind you, but something farrrrr cooler…getting our auras read! It’s a teeny tiny storefront, easy to miss, so don’t blink or you’ll walk right by. The aura reading works like so: you sit down in front of an electromagnetic camera, placing your hands on metal sensors, and voila!, the photo comes out. Afterwards, the owner walks you through what your aura is currently saying, based on a chakra chart and the way your aura flows (which, as they say, changes every 4 weeks.) Looking at the left side of your photo is the past two weeks, and the right side is the upcoming 2 weeks…a little bit of past, a little bit of future.
Mine was a tie-dyed jumble of greens and oranges and yellows…basically read as “you’re very positive and find happiness in what you do (the green), you have boundless energy (the height and brightness of the aura), and are right now career focused at heart (the yellow).” Considering that raising my very demanding almost-toddler is my current career, I could definitely agree with him there;-)
So the result? Obviously nothing revolutionary, but a definite fun way to spend an afternoon and to compare and laugh at our results (he emphasized my husband was “a very good friend but very tired” and needed to “eat lunch at the same time every day so as not to negatively impact his liver.” Duly noted.
Although I do think there is something very true in that energy flows off people and places and even things. Like if you’re searching for a new apartment, and can know within seconds of walking into a place if it would be a good fit or not based on the energy and vibes you feel? Or if you meet someone, and click right away? Or if you have that one piece of jewelry you never take off because you associate it with being a lucky charm?
Here’s to keeping the good energy — stay strong and kind all.
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
