The Magic of Mental Housekeeping

As is the case most days, I woke up early this morning wanting to get busy right away on one of my projects.  But I wasn't awake enough to prioritize and focus my energy.  I stumbled into my office and putzed around with e-mail, downloaded some pictures from my camera and gave up.  I thought to myself that a good bit of magic I could do would be to wake myself up.  But I didn't.  I wandered back to bed, told my inner self to give me some ideas later, and zonked out until the sky was fully light and then some.  But the idea of how we can direct our focus stayed on my mind.  Naturally I noticed a post on Facebook when I opened it up later about how the civil rights and liberties of Gays and other minorities are deteriorating since the financial problems of 2008 hit our nation.  Fearful people are reacting, looking for scapegoats, and afraid to be as tolerant as they once were. Certain religious and political leaders are feeding on this fear for their own ends.  I thought of how good it would be if these fearful people could stop and challenge their fears.  How wonderful it would be for them and our nation if they could realize the power and resources they had within themselves to make their life better.  To bring a bit of magic into their life. But from my own slow start this morning I know how hard it is to direct your focus at times.  I've even been trained for it and I still don't do it.  But I still want to suggest to all wise magicians: If you feel fearful, lazy, blah, discouraged, please get out of the storm for a moment and look to the energy of magic that surrounds you.  You can do at least one little thing to make you life better right away.  Maybe just the act of saying you can take greater charge of your life, your actions, your moods and attitudes will give you a lift.  You can you know. So bring order to your thoughts.Make your life better.  May the spark be with you.

Magic And Responsibility

Responsibility is absolutely key to working magic. Now I have to pause and laugh because a visual picture or movie clip just came to me. Remember Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer's Apprentice? He wasn't responsible about his magic and got himself into a lot of trouble. But he learned by doing. He learned he didn't have all the skills he needed. The ability to respond is a wonderful thing. The ability to decide what to respond to is also a wonderful thing. Deciding is a big part of responsibility. A person, or wise magician, can decide to delay an emotional reaction. A decision can be made to energize oneself to face an important task. A decision can be made as to how to approach a certain problem. Responsibility is basically deciding what you want to happen and doing what you can to cause that to happen. The wise magician is the one in charge. Being in charge doesn't just mean being in charge of the situation or project. You also must be in charge of yourself. You must use your critical thinking skills. One aspect of critical thinking is self regulation. You must regulate yourself by nurturing yourself when needed, by feeding yourself well, by noticing when your biases are causing you to go against your higher values, by drawing out your ideas and questions.
Some people may be afraid of the whole idea of responsibility, thinking of how hard is is to pay rent, go to work every day and so on. The wise magician will choose a task or project, such as raising a family, to be responsible for. Then the wise magician will act or respond to the needs of that situation in ways that will bring about success. Creativity, choosing happiness and hooking into the energy of magic will all be helpful in bringing about that success. Choosing to do a certain thing, or to nurture something does not need to be a burden. If it is your wholehearted choice you will find ways to get through the hard times. Magic will help. May the spark be with you.