Making Magic in May Series: Week 1: The Magic of Intention
I am open to the guidance of synchronicity and I do not let expectations hinder my path.
— Dalai Lama
What is magic really?
That’s a good place to begin. I want us to be on the same page when I use the word magic. We could also call it synchronicity, the unexplainable, a momentary change of feeling in the air. Take a moment to think about what is magical to you. Here are some ideas that come to mind for me:
When your child is playing with a sunbeam coming through the window.
When you’re thinking of a loved one and they suddenly call you.
When you walk on the part of the sand that meets the ocean.
When you’re in the forest and suddenly you drop into your body and the sound quiets around you.
When you have that a-ha moment in the shower.
Here’s one story that illustrates what magic means to me. A year ago I wrote down a smattering of creative-dream seeds I wanted to foster and grow. This idea comes from The Book of Houses by Robert Cole and Paul Williams. I chose seven varieties—work, home, kids, personal health, creativity, community and intentional pauses—and planted a few seeds from each. A few examples: Giving two workshops, teaching yoga, hosting a girls’ summer camp, clearing excess in our home, and having regular art/game nights with the kids.As I sat down in April to reflect on the growth of these seeds and choose next year’s, I noticed that many had indeed come true. There was one that I wished had been easier to grow—regular art/game nights with the kids. It happened every once in awhile but often felt forced. Fast forward to a night last week. We had finished dinner a little early and while I was cleaning up the kids had settled on some independent quiet play. My son was perfecting a magnet tile base for his Star Wars Lego ship. My daughter found a 1000-piece puzzle gifted to us years ago.
She pulled it off the games and puzzles shelf and asked if we could work on it. I said yes but on the table so we don’t lose pieces to the cats. When I finished up in the kitchen I sat at the table with her. Our favorite Beatles record played on the turntable and we marveled at all the small pieces.
We were all together, engaged, and connected. The air around us felt charged with magic. Aha, I realized, here it is. The dream seed has sprouted after all. The conditions had become just right.
The magic of setting intentions, or planting creative-dream seeds each year, is in both the commitment you declare and the conditions you foster throughout the year ahead. The magic is also in surrendering to how and when your dreams appear above ground. Some seeds may take longer. Some seeds may look a little different when they flower than you had expected. Our “regular art/game nights,” materialized as my son talking to us from across the room about his creative process while my daughter and I looked for puzzle pieces for each other and sang along to “Here Comes the Sun.”When your dream seeds come to fruition it’s truly magical!You can try this practice on for yourself at anytime. Simply choose a few areas of your life and set some intentions for yourself.
A simple ritual, using one of the four elements, serves to amplify your declaration of commitment and connect with nature’s elemental magic.
earth: plant your “seeds” in the garden on little strips of paper
fire: burn them in the fireplace or outdoor fire pit
air: say them out loud to the wind
water: float them downstream.
Remember that as much as declaring your creative dream seeds is important, so is setting up hospitable conditions throughout the year from which they will grow. Stay tuned for next week’s Making Magic in May blog post on Creating a Daily Self-care Ritual.