I still believe in magic…
In spite of this past year, and because of it, I believe we all need that sprinkling of something beyond the ordinary more than ever.
Our lives have become so extraordinary and our reality so extreme that magical possibilities don’t seem farfetched any more.
But I’m not talking of waving wands or muttering incantations – although those have their place – as much as rediscovering our own magic.
In a world where we have lost much of our personal power, it’s the one way we can reclaim it without harming others.
When was the last time you simply sat and listened to yourself?
Really listened?
What is it your heart longs for?
Never mind your heart, what about your soul?
There is within all of us that tiny voice that cries out to be heard…
The same voice we start ignoring when we begin to believe the people who tell us that this world is a hard place, that we need to struggle and fight and never once show what that costs us.
Even when the price is the life we could have led.
And no, I am not advocating you give it all up, leap in a campervan and become a digital nomad.
It works for some but there are many more who have ties to particular people and places as well as responsibilities that include those.
Besides, the best place to rediscover your magic is in that place you already call home.
For me, that’s with the people I love, doing the things I love. That’s where the magic happens. The key is knowing who and what you truly love. The rest will then fall into place.
So perhaps start this year with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. Sit and listen to yourself and then begin to write down what your heart and soul tell you.
Of course, you will have to take into account those you love and care for but the strange thing is that, once you start living with more truth, they will benefit from that magic too.
If you can’t think of anything then ask yourself this question: what beauty can you bring to this world, today, right now?
It could be as simple as a kind word or as complex as a book but think in terms of what you can give. And one of the most precious gifts of all is time.
You see, another thing we have learned through this past year is that time is not infinite, at least not our time. Many of us have been sick or have lost loved ones. Others have lost lives they thought were theirs for the taking.
Yes, this is a chance to reset and rediscover but you can only do that once you have allowed yourself to grieve for what is lost.
Write those down. Get it all out there. Give yourself the gift of dignifying what has gone so you can welcome what is to come. If you are exhausted and full of despair, write that down too.
You cannot rebuild from a place of burnout. Instead, you need to stoke your fires once more and reignite what it is that makes you truly you.
Magic happens when you do that. When you lay down all the pain, the despair, the yearning and the losses so you can begin to let them go.
Treat yourself with as much compassion as you would a good friend as you do this. Then, just as you would encourage that friend, begin to refill your pages with hope.
A word of warning: this is where you have to get ruthless.
Not with others but with yourself.
There is so much power in truth. You can almost smell it and taste it from the page and it’s what makes writers great rather than merely good. It takes enormous courage and the will to go beyond ordinary boundaries. It’s what creates magic. It will work for you.
Write it all down – the buried hopes and dreams, the longings, the things you wish you had said. Take yourself seriously but do this with a light heart. Children are wonderful at making magic because they play and create without filters, simply believing it must be so. I want you to do the same.
Then all you need to do is act on those things.
Yes, I know. I make it sound so simple. And yet that’s exactly what it is. My life changed the day I learned to sit with myself and listen to what my heart and soul wanted. You can call it meditation if you like. I call it simply listening.
It’s also one of the greatest thing you can do for another human being, to simply sit and be with them. To listen, if that’s what they need. Or just to be there, with them, witnessing them in all their humanity. Do it for yourself too and you may just find that those miracles you stopped believing in finally start happening.
Take that first step and trust yourself.
Then watch the magic happen.
