Follow The Magical Golden Thread

Many fairy tales have a golden thread as part of the story. This thread leads the hero or shero
to their ultimate happy destination. In our daily life we may feel unraveled and in need of a magic thread to stitch together the creative projects we are trying to craft. If you pause a bit, catch your breath away from this unraveled feeling you may discover that all the disparate parts and different pathways you have been scurrying down actually do have a common thread. I have been trying to be more commercial about my teaching skills but it seemed that there was too much to learn, too much to consider. I was getting to the point that I wanted to totally give up. Then I realized that 'magic' is the common thread for me. Students I have who are preparing to take the GED test need to feel the zing of confidence in their ability to learn. I can give that to them. I can do the same for women exploring new business ventures, or people who need to improve their ability to speak English. I can note the frustrations of each of the people I am working with and help them find a way to glory in their ability to succeed. That for me is the common thread, the genius within each person. If you are feeling that you have lost your sense of purpose, that you are no longer following your bliss I suggest you step back and look for the thread. More than likely you have been expressing your inner self in ways you didn't realize before. A well crafted meal can be the work of an artist as well as an oil painting. The thread of magic and genius runs through your work. Find it and appreciate it. May the spark be with you.

Wisdom Is Where You Find It

Recently I watched a couple of people do a bit of screaming and shouting, acting out as it were. One of them went to a quiet place and discovered what his soul was trying to tell him about the need for self expression, that he needed to be creative to keep his soul healthy. I am not close enough to the other person to know what she did but the recipient of her intensity reached out for some mental health counseling to deal with that behavior, so good results came from both of these two tantrums. I used the lesson from the man who learned of the need for soul expression for myself and solved some problems in my physical set up for my writing. I was getting antsy about the impediments to my creativity myself. I just wasn't quite ready to act out. So I wonder if the demonstrators around the nation I have been judgmental of can be encouraged to get into a dialogue with themselves about their fears and needs for their soul to be happy. Perhaps they will learn a good lesson in time. I have often said that anger is needed to alert us that something needs to be fixed. I must state, however, that reason must be used to really understand what needs to be fixed. The spark of magic in this case would be the spark of reason. Use the energy you get from reaching for the spark to notice what is pushing your buttons, what irritates you, then reason out ways to solve those problems. That will bring the magic and miracles to you that you need. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Self Creation

Have you heard the saying "As a man thinketh so he is"? A lot of research is now coming out that we have a lot more to do with forming ourselves than was previously known. Fear helps us survive. We do need to watch out for dangers. Happiness helps us survive on a higher level. The more we look for positive facts and turn them into positive experience the more happy we will become. I want to explain more about turning a positive fact into a positive experience. Any positive fact can be noticed, experienced, savored, and even taken into your consciousness to heal old wounds. It is a matter of teaching yourself to do it. A long standing concept in sociology is "the mirror image self". That refers to the way people develop their self concept from the way those around them seem to perceive them. If a person is treated as smart they are more likely to act smart and so on. However each individual can find ways to engineer a better self concept for themselves without having to be lucky enough to be in a family that will nurture that concept. Of course choosing the people you associate with will influence your idea of self but we have a fair amount of choice in who we associate with in this modern world. Do you wish to be more honorable? By wishing that you already have concepts of honor. Now look for times you notice and applaud honor in others. Notice your own honorable thoughts. Take those thoughts into your experience, savor them deeply. Soon you will notice honorable actions such as holding a door open for a handicapped person and so on. Savor these actions. Do this with whatever character trait you believe you need to develop whether it be courage, creativity, kindness or whatever else you need. The spark of magic will give you the daring to consider what you want to bring forth in yourself. It is latent already or you would not hunger for it. Consider it, experience it, savor it, be it. May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Now

Dreams are important. They inform and energize us. We must nurture our dreams for that reason alone, not just for the joy they might bring us if they come true. Ideas of reality and possibility can be dangerous. If we say things like "It costs too much money to do that" or "I can't do that in the time I have left in my life" you may be sprinkling salt on the bubble of your dreams. All your various identities are important right here and now, the experienced ones and the possible ones. After you have had the joy of the dreams and held them close to your heart you can decide which ones will receive effort and energy. But the bringing to life of a dream must also be part of the dream. If you are allergic to rocks it is not good to be a mountain climber. The trip must be worth the end. Each step is part of the "now" of the dream for it to actually be part of the expression of who you are. So be in the moment, let your skin feel the air, let you nose smell the aromas around you, let your ears hear sweet words. But the part of you that still dreams of more as you center yourself, let it also perceive what comes to it. Dream of expressing, dream of doing, dream of being. That will give you a spark of magic. By itself your life will be better. The effort of making it so can come later. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Essence

We hear a lot about following our dream, of being what we want to be when we grow up and so forth. I don't think we hear enough about how to do that. Of course our society encourages education, even helping us gain it. But the deep expression of who we are that will fulfill us can remain a mystery. However I do believe that this mystery has a solution. First, however, we do have to go to the trouble to really open up to the dream. Let yourself visualize and feel what life would be like if you were living that dream. If you were a fireman; with the heat and smoke and weight of the hoses, as well as the camaraderie of the fire house and the joy of saving life or property. Or a dancer with the strains and tiredness as well as the fluid movement to the music. When you know the dream well you can boil it down to the essence of what you most want. Do you want to be a rock star in order to stand on a stage or in order to share your love of music with others? Would being a mother only involve birth or would it mean surrounding yourself with growing happy children? What is the essential part of yourself that wants to be shared with the world? Once you know the essence of the dream I believe that you can grab onto the spark of magic to give you ideas about ways to live the dream. I know that I would like to publish widely. But anytime I find a way to help others realize they are special gems of creation, that their individuality is wonderful and unique, I am living my dream. May the spark be with you that you find a way to live your own dream.

The Magical Aura of a Concept

There are many examples of the way words change over time. Awful( once having a spiritual connotation, as in full of awe) became something bad; is one such word. I really like the way the Greek word 'temenos' has developed. Once it stood for an area that was cut off, protected, and had a special use. Maybe the use was just for the way sunshine would reach plants in a protected part of the garden in the winter, or it could be a special area to be used by nobility. It has come to be used as a special place, or emotional atmosphere, where one can be truly himself. Friends create a place of temenos for friends, one of acceptance and understanding. The one in that protected place then flourishes, as if given magical soil and water. Consider ways that you can provide a magical circle, or temenos, to your friends and yourself. Allow that magical circle to develop. We all need it. Providing it for others will help it manifest for yourself. A bit of listening can go a long way towards bringing a spark of magic into your life.