The Magic Of Owning Your Power

Sometimes the magician wants to be all powerful without realizing the power he or she already holds. Often that gap between power wanted and power already owned comes from a needless insecurity. One exercise I would suggest to remedy that insecurity is to explore the power you have. Each magician has different powers and would do well to explore those powers in a celebration of life. To help you get started I will list some of my powers as an example. I have the power to learn, to grow, to have values and speak up for them. I also have the value to laugh, to love, to express that love, to accept what must be accepted, to create, to persuade others, to enjoy a good story, to discover and develop my talents, to mourn when I must, to recognize stupidity and to have empathy for others. I have negative powers that I have not developed but I notice them in others and hope to stay away from them. I abstain from speaking the language of "shoulds" too often as in "you should do this, you should do that" except to myself. I have the power to get started on a project and to work to craft that project. I have the power to hope and the power to encourage. I have the power to receive. I have the power to be thankful for miracles that come to me. I have the power to take chances and learn from the mistakes I make in taking those chances. I have powers yet to be discovered. I suggest you also accept your powers. Take responsibility for them. Own them. Reach out to the magic that surrounds you for the energy to do so. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Happy Ideas

There are many ideas that can not necessarily be proved to be true. But holding these ideas seems to make people happy and more productive, so the benefit of holding them shows that they have a certain kind of truth to them. The idea I use in this blog, that we live in an aura of energy that we can hook into for help to improve our lives, is one of those happy ideas. Other happy ideas are; good will prevail, the good you do will come back to you with a three or seven-fold increase, miracles happen, love is out there waiting for you, every problem has a solution, and love makes the world go 'round. Happy ideas are different from xenophobic ideas. These kind of ideas lead to false feelings of superiority by putting other groups down and to hate and discrimination. They must be countered with the happy idea that there is enough abundance for everyone and that all are equal. 'You can do it' is another wonderful happy idea. I suggest that a wonderful way for you to bring success into your life is to take time to identify and cherish the happy ideas you have or want to have. It is a wide open field. Just make sure they are happy ideas, not ones contaminated by anger of resentment. A way around that is the happy idea 'I am happy that my anger helps me identify a situation that must be changed. I am happy that I have the resources to work for that change in a positive manner.'
Life does challenge us. But rising to that challenge lets us become our own hero, which is a wonderful thing. Reach out for your own happy ideas. They can be your personal ideas even if someone else also likes them. Enjoy the benefits of them. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Resilience

I believe that human beings by nature are resilient, able to bounce back from hard times. Resilience is what brought us successfully through the ages with all the myriad problems that had to be solved to modern times. But I admit that some people have more or it than others and we each have more or less of it at different times. How can the practical magician hook into or develop their resilience? The first step is to believe that problems can be solved. The solution may not be immediately evident but even small steps in searching for a solution are likely to open things up. Second: Hook into mentors. A support system is very important. You may have trouble in establishing an easily available and wise support system. Some magicians use a technique suggested in Barbara Sher's book, 'Wishcraft' in which a person puts pictures up of people, living or dead, real or in literature, who would be good role models and helpful if they were available. She calls it 'a person's saints'. You can also commune with your self by writing out a conversation about the problem you are dealing with. Third: Nurture and take care of your self. When you are feeling stressed it is easy to forget to eat or laugh. Fourth: Make time for laughter and movement. Fifth: Limit the time you spend mulling or worrying about your problems. You may need to make an appointment with yourself for worry time. But don't worry all day long no matter what. Sixth:Create your own ways of encouraging your resilience. The magician who believes there is an aura of magical energy surrounding him or her has a head start on being resilient. Hook into that energy. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Parsing

To parse is to analyze a communication very thoroughly, as in a sentence or computer code. I think the practical magician would do well to parse advice, slogans, political ads and other communications that come our way. A wonderful magic wand we have is: The ability to analyze ideas and to look to implications of action taken because of ideas. When I heard someone had advised a couple that the best way to help their elderly mother was to leave her alone, I had to ask a few questions to make them realize there's different ways to leave a person alone. Some could lead to that person doing more for them self and others could lead to that person's death. When a black cloud of despair comes down on us we can look at that as a communication from our fearful negative self. Then we can grab the wand and parse that communication. We can ask: What fear is a wake-up call to change actions? What fear is a physical cause such as lack of sleep or bad diet? What fear comes from jumping to a wrong conclusion?
The energy of the magic that surrounds you can help you reach out for whatever tool or wand you need in order to be in charge of your life. Hook into that energy and create the life you want. May the spark be with you.

The Gift Of 'Oh Well'

I was thinking of some of the life lessons I have gained and I had the thought that there are people I know or used to know who would not approve of some of my enlightened attitudes. For a moment I was tempted to tone down or deny said attitudes even though I knew them to be valid. The magic that surrounds me gave me a gift at that moment. My craven self sensed a big "Oh well" in the air and I again had the courage to be my better self. I was kind of excited to realize I don't have to bear the burden of other peoples judgments. I am not responsible for their narrow minded or mistaken ideas. I don't have to accept them nor do I have to worry about changing them. My ideas and my crusades are my own. I do care what other people think and feel. I am, after all, a social being. Also, as a writer, the life blood of my stories is people's feelings and attitudes which lead to their actions. But I also care about my own ideas and understandings. It has taken me years to gain some of them. Until that moment I received the gift of "Oh well" I may have been trying to clothe myself in labels more than I realized. But when I do that I deny myself the freedom to see the errors that are made even in the best of groups. Labels and slogans can be helpful but they can also interfere with thought. A magician values profound understanding. Let the magic that surrounds you encourage you to gain your own deep understanding of all that you turn to. May the spark be with you.

Magic Can Deal With Fear

Fear and dread are debilitating. Sometimes the flight or fight response kicks in and we can deal with them short term. But other times we react in ways that messes us up such as snapping at people who are on our side, or lashing out in anger or violence. It feels so terrible when we are in the grip of dread our first concern is to make a change, any change. There is one problem with what are called the negative emotions, they come up so fast, because it is important we get the message that something is wrong rapidly, that judgment is often clouded. To get from the feeling of panic and paralysis, even denial, that hits to rationality magic is important. Remember, the magician is the one in charge of his or her life. She is able to use all resources to do good for her life. You may have developed mantras or spells for clarity of thought or meditation. Many people chant 'Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo' at times like this to quiet the outer mind. When I used to have to walk home from baby sitting in the dark as a teen, I found that rubbing the fingernail of the thumb on my right hand under the fingernail of my pointer finger was calming. The little spark that comes from the magic that surrounds you can be utilized to get you to the place where you can make the good decisions you need to make. If you have problems with fear such as bad cases of stage fright you can rationally set up a program of desensitization when you are calm. We don't want to be fearless. We just don't want it to get in our way. Courage is in how you handle fear. The skill set of thinking like a magician is the bridge from panic to courageous success. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Facetime

I want to start off tonight with a quote by Lawrence Katz, PhD, Professor in Neurobiology at Duke University. "The absence of human interaction is just deadly for the brain." I agree. When we talk to others face to face we find our brain works better and so does our life. If you are having trouble getting where you want to be in your life maybe it would be a good idea to slow down and have more face to face time with your people. Kings have their ministers. Presidents have their cabinets. Generals have their aids. Whether you are talking over the problems you face or not, just talking, that two way dialogue that keeps your brain alive, is going to help you make the right decisions and take the right actions you need. If there is any danger that you are slipping into a solitary lifestyle find ways to reach out. Let the energy of the magic that surrounds you help you go out to coffee, even talking to the waitress will help. Go ahead and attend the meetings you thought would be too much trouble. Call the friends you haven't seen for awhile and set up time to hang out with them. Solitude is good. Loneliness is not. Find a few more people to talk to. It will enrich your life. May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Finally

Yesterday someone commented that I was walking with a lot more energy and ease. This was a goal I had been working for but had not had a lot of hope of making progress on. A great wave of "finally" washed over me. I felt energized and more able to continue to push myself to put more movement into my life. Then I began to look at other goals I had that had become kind of stale because I had been slogging away at them so long. I found myself able to generate energy to continue with them by letting myself see and feel what I had "finally" accomplished in regards to them. I had finally come up with some character traits, even flaws, that made the protagonist in a book I am working on more interesting. It is now easier to go forward. I had finally gotten enough comments from those who were critiquing another work so that now I can get busy with some more polishing of it. I had finally paid off one of my high interest credit cards. I looked around and found all kinds of things I had finally done. I felt like I was on top of a mountain and surveying my kingdom. So if you need to hook into the magic that is around you for some help in any area of you life, look around you. Perhaps you have finally had some close time with a person important to you. You may have finally been able to feel a special connection to the universe by meditating at dawn or in some other way. You inner self is constantly working for your benefit. Discover what it has "finally" done for you and appreciate it. May the spark be with you.

It's Magic To Be Heard

It is wonderful to be heard, it is real balm to the spirit. How can you influence being heard? Two things come to mind. First, put yourself in the company of friendly people who are capable of listening and when they do listen to you show appreciation. There is a corollary to this first one. Learn to listen to yourself so that you don't need to run off at the mouth needlessly and boringly. That can close the ears of the most dedicated listeners. The second one comes from that corollary, make sure the line is open. Don't impose. Ask if the other person has time and is ready to listen to you. Show your appreciation for being heard. If the person who is giving you the gift of listening makes a comment or suggestion be polite about it. Later, when you are able to mull it over you might find out it is a real gem. Realize the other person is human and that if you take their self interest into consideration it is easier for them to listen to you. At one job I had the other workers would ask me to make requests of the boss, because, they said, he listened to me. I then analyzed the way in which I made my requests and realized I always thought of how those requests might affect him and phrased in a way that considered his good and the good of the business. Never close ears of your listeners by shouting, insulting them or whining. Expressing sorrow is not whining. Being self-centered is. The magic that surrounds you wants you to be heard. Reach out and let it happen. You have important things to express. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Second Things Second

Most people have an pretty good grasp of the idea of first things first, whether they practice it of not. But the gap of what to do after you get started has a lot of people befuddled. The second thing to do is the next do-able thing that can be done that will lead to the end goal. So when you start something it is a good idea of where you want it to go. It may flower in other directions but an end goal being held in mind helps things get started. If you have finally met the person to whom you are attracted the next thing to do is to make it possible for a second no pressure meeting. If you have finally written a wonderful musical theme for a musical work you are composing the next thing to do is to come up with secondary themes that will support the first one. Getting started is a big part of the battle but keeping going is the most important part. An essay explores the idea you are putting forth. A house has to have walls, a roof and so forth. The end goal must be part of getting started in order to move on to the second thing second. This is where magic comes in. Creative projects, all creative projects including relationships, are not well formed if they are too straight line. They need to be developed and enjoyed. Now you can ask the questions about the person or the project such as: What do you value? What are the ramifications and implications of this? How does that affect me? Whatever you have just started, now is the time to reach out for the energy of the magic that surrounds you to make it a little bit more full, a little richer, a little deeper. Whether it is relaxing and renewing yourself, forming a new relationship or starting a work of creativity, now is the time to move to the second richer level. May the spark be with you.