The Magic of Making Lemonade

I imagine you have heard the common saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  But have you stopped to think about the process of making lemonade?  Would your own lemonade have more than lemons?  How would you juice them?  How would you make sure that you had clean, cool water?  Then what about that special ingredient, sugar?  Would you add a sprig of mint?  Just how much of your own unique take on things would you put into refining, reprocessing and presenting again, the blasts of trouble that life gives you?  Can you turn an embarrassing moment into a screen play?  Can you see a solution for a problem and come up with a new invention?  If you start to believe in yourself as a magical lemonade maker you can eventually get quite skilled at making your own lemonade.  Learn to look at the absurd side of things.  Practice free associating and letting ideas come through to you.  Maybe it would even be good to notice when the lemonade is too tart or too sour,  Maybe a good cry or a bit of swearing will help you get to your special blend of lemonade.  Another thing that is part of the lemonade process is someone to enjoy it.  Jokes, inventions, stories are all part of a healing social process.  Life does give you lemons.  Give that bit of sourness back as a smile, a game, a change of habits, a new way of doing things.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Recognizing Boredom

Boredom is the refusal of your genius self to focus on something any longer.  A wise magician will stop and note why this something seems 'boring''.  If the boredom is because it is overwhelming, something you need to master and understand, then it might do to take a break and make a plan as to how you will find a different  approach.  Survival can depend on understanding the complex things in our life.  However, another reason can be that it is time to be bored.  Sometimes we are "just so over something" we can't be bothered with it any more.  I recently came across a statement to that affect by someone who was saying they had forgiven someone who had wronged them.  They said they were just tired of dwelling on the past wrong.
Sometimes a therapist will encourage a person to tell their story over and over, as many times as it takes for the teller to really get it all out there.  When they have heard themselves to the point that they are bored with the story and are ready to move on, healing has begun. They may have lived through a massive trauma but they are ready to let it stop controlling their life.  So, if you are bored, recognize it.  Just like anger, fear, and all emotions, boredom is a signal from your magical self.  Identify the way in which you are bored.  If you will be better off finding a new way to approach something do so.  If you are ready to move on, to be more creative and have a richer life, do so.  May the spark be with you.

The Magical Function of Considering Alternatives

There are habits that you can develop which will bring a much higher quality of life to you.  I consider these habits of mind and action as having magical function, as the benefits they bring can seem like magic.  I have blogged about magical function before.  Recently I realized that the habit of looking at your options, or considering alternatives can have magical function.  When you are up against the wall or in a sticky situation it can be very stressful.  The tendency is to feel despair and give up.  But if you are in the habit of considering your alternatives you are likely to find a way to solve your problem.  Sometimes it is as simple as redefining the problem. Sometimes it is much more.  But if you have a mind set of being a resourceful person you will probably get through your tough time.  Don't bother to stress yourself out or waste time by saying "It should be this way or that".  It is as it is.  Or it is what it seems to be at first glance.  Now get busy and see what options, resources, or alternatives you have.  Weigh your choices and go for something better.  Adopt an attitude that you are a learner and you can learn from this situation.  Maybe you will learn to avoid situations like this in the future.  What ever the lesson you choose to learn, whatever choice you make, know that it is your magic that you bring to yourself.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of 'Due Time' Scheduling

Sometimes, when we think about 'getting our priorities straight' it is linked with the idea of an either or choice.   If losing weight is a priority you will give up nightly hot fudge sundaes.  But there can be a sense of peacefulness, therefore magic, when you know how to fit certain things into your time use schedule with a sense of "due time".  It isn't just first things first, second things second and so on.  When you schedule that way the third and fourth things often get left out totally. I suggest you make a to-do list of things you want to do. Let yourself become aware of things you think you want to do but your soul says they are not that important. Like keeping up with the Jones.  Accept that certain things really need to get done or there will be trouble for you.  Certain things need to get done at certain times of the day and week.  I shouldn't be having the sprinkler going on the front lawn after 10 am and before 6pm. Doctor's appointments have to be made during clinic hours. Things like that.  But it is perfectly fine to put clothes in the washer at midnight.There may be all kinds of time available to you to do things if you refuse to let time-wasting stress attack you.
Now, look at your list and your calendar and transcend any stress you feel about getting things on that list done.  Tell yourself that things will get done, things will happen, in their due time. Look for things you can do while you are doing something else that doesn't require much attention.  I used to knit in doctor's waiting rooms. I often pay bills while I am watching TV.  Also look for things that you can do partially in small chunks of time.  Assemble a casserole in the morning.  Go to work, come home, take it out of the fridge, pop it in the oven and enjoy it for supper.  Another way to make 'due time' work for you is to avoid trying to do things when your mental energy is low.  I need to hand deliver a letter tomorrow.  But it was hot when I found out where to take it and my brain was soft fudge.  All I could do was sit in the room where the air conditioning unit is and try to put myself back together.  Now I am rested and no longer suffering from the heat.  I will probably write it after I post my blog.  Or early tomorrow morning.  Due time also kicks in when you try to find fun times for doing things.  Very early in the morning is a joyous time for many people.  Getting some physical work done at daybreak can be enjoyable.  "Building a house before breakfast" was a saying often heard in my first father-in-law's household. Get up, work up an appetite then come back for breakfast and visiting when you are fully awake, was the idea.
So I say to all wise magicians: Do not let the need to get thing done give you stress.  Your time is yours to control.  Stress can make you forget to do things or take too long to do them.  Develop a sense of "due time" and life will work better for you.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Check It Out, Check It Off.

Are you stuck?  Are you at the mercy of the  "it's supposed to be" monster?  Maybe it's time to do something different.  Instead of drawing magic into your life, throw something toxic out of it.  That will make room for the magic.  Are you waiting for a relative or a friend to treat you as well as they are "supposed to"? Are you working at a job you are supposed to like?  If these people or situations aren't quite right, you need to reconsider them.  Give things a chance.  Check them out.  If they don't measure up, admit it, and check them off your list.  Move on. A few years ago the American people were sold the idea that if they gave special treatment to big business, very big business, it would trickle down and create more jobs for the middle class.  That was not how it worked out.  These companies poured more into the CEO salaries and found ways to avoid paying taxes, and outsourced jobs.  Now we are realizing it didn't work.  Some people are now willing to move on to something that does work.  Whether it is in your personal, community, or national life, I suggest to all wise magicians: Check it out, and if it isn't working, check it off.  May the spark be with you.

The Magical Function of Puns and Word Play

Our tendency and ability to play on words brings many good things into our life.  First of all humor has many benefits.  When we laugh it opens up our brain to learn.  If we can make someone else laugh it opens up channels of communication.  A happy brain functions better.  Even a simple silly pun can break the hold anxiety may have on us. Humor is healing.  Years ago a book came out, "Anatomy of an Illness" by Norman Cousins, in which he told of how he watched old Keystone Kops movies as part of his self designed healing process.  Sometimes our inner self wants to tell us something and it uses a play on words to do so.  Metaphor is a very useful tool is all sorts of ways.  Think of how good a person is who is said to have a "heart of gold".  So I say to all wise magicians, go ahead and play with words, listen to yourself and others as they bring out the hidden messages from the inner self,  I still remember being in a class called 'Techniques of Counseling' when Dr. Biglin was discussing Freudian slips.  He mispronounced it as Fraudian slips.  I pointed that out to him and he responded by saying that his secret attitude towards Sigmund Freud was that he was a bit of a fraud.  So, wise magicians, beware and be aware of the wand of puns.  People give compliments, insults and other messages with their puns.  Be aware of this and bring magic into your life.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Dare Base and Peek-a-Boo

Dare Base and Peek-a-Boo are a couple of children's games that have a lot to teach us.  One is very active, running towards the other team's base to see if you can get on it successfully without getting tagged.  If you do get tagged you have to switch teams.  Peek-a-Boo is more passive, just covering your eyes then looking at something.  But in both there is the idea of daring to explore new worlds.  I recently read an article by Steve Atchinson, an addiction counselor, that said addicts and alcoholics have a great trouble exploring new realities.  They can't move into a new world of healing because they are stuck so firmly in the old world of substance abuse and addiction.  I believe that this is also true on a lesser basis for many instances of being stuck.  Perhaps you could call them soft addictions.  People seem to stick with the devil they know rather than dare the devil they don't know, or even go forth to make friends with an angel.  But if you will peek at a problem, then hide your eyes again, then peek again, the "new" becomes less dangerous.  Run towards a problem.  Imagine something different.  Dare and peek in the safety of your own mind.  Enough darting out and daring makes the strange familiar.  So I say to all wise magicians, 'Dare to imagine something better. Dare to go on a journey of exploration.  You can change your thought patterns and become braver, more confident.  Just keep rehearsing what you want to do.  The inner game works for tennis and skiing.  It will work for other life skills as well.  Explore a better life.  May the spark be with you.