A video caught my eye just as I was about to go to bed. I decided to watch it and am so glad I did. I will be going to bed with my heart open and tears rolling down my cheeks. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Tag: magic
Everyday Magic
Even though they may be out of our awareness, I believe we experience magical moments every day. I had two such experiences in the last week.
These are the sights I usually see when I look into my worm bin.
But a few days ago, when I took off the lid, this is what I saw. In the four years I’ve had worm bins this has never happened before. It was such a surprise!
My second magical experience was completely different. After a lifetime of disinterest in football, I became an avid Seahawks fan four years ago. I often watch the games with Al, my ex-husband. It is especially fun to watch them in his apartment because the apartment is not far from the stadium where the games are being held.
Seattle fans are known for being very loud and we can hear them in his apartment. Because there is a 5 to 10 second delay between the time something happens and the time we see it on television, the screaming crowd gives us advance notice of important events. When the Seahawks score, we hear the sound of a cannon prior to seeing the touchdown, field goal or other type of scoring on the television.
When we were watching the game this past Sunday, there was one point when the crowd was screaming extraordinarily loud. I was confused because it was not a reasonable time for a touchdown. Besides, the cannon didn’t go off. What came out of my mouth was “They just got an interception.” I don’t know who was more surprised, Al or me! Me, a person who knew nothing about football four years ago, could sense what had happened from the sound of a crowd a mile away. As far as I’m concerned it was a magical experience.
Being the Hands of the Divine
When I read the Dungeon Prompts: Our Magic Powers writing challenge for the week I was perplexed. The prompt was:
We are all gifted with certain magical powers. We may not have fully harnessed them, or we may rebel against the powers we’ve been given, but we know that they are there. The power may be so potent that we are scared to use it, or we may have come to terms and learned the intricacies of it. We may have used them for evil or for good, but when we think that we can go unnoticed, we have surely tested them out.
Magical powers go beyond a talent for something. It involves bending reality to your will. When your will comes in tune with the cosmic will you may notice your powers flow like a raging river. Whether you hide it or not, you know that it’s there. So this week, tell us about your magical powers.
To me, the magic in life is the work of the Divine, whether it be a seed turning into a beautiful flower or the wondrous nature of all life forms. All the synchronicities that occur in my life feel like a Divine play. I will never forget my last trip to India when I was told I would be upgraded to Business Class if I was willing to sit in a seat where the video didn’t work. Soon I discovered that the man sitting next to me, who was also gifted with an upgrade, was a Sanskrit student and teacher. In fact, he was teaching from the identical Sanskrit textbook that I was struggling with at the time. He had even gone to the same Sanskrit camp I had attended the previous summer! To me that whole scenario felt like magic, but I believe it was actually a gift from the Divine.
I see all of us as instruments of the Divine, tasked with being His/Her hands. When we do that work it may seem like magic to others, or even to ourselves. So in that spirit, what kind of magic is it that I do?
I thought back to my 65th birthday when a small group of friends celebrated that milestone with me. At one point in the evening, they talked about me. It was like being a witness to one’s own memorial service. I was amazed at what they said about me and the impact they believed I have had on their lives. I also thought about things other people have said about me in the past and to a post (When They Think of Me….) I wrote last year after having asked friends what objects they thought of when they thought of me. At that time, one person responded:
Well, my first thought of you is your abundant beautiful hair, but that’s not an object. When I just stopped for a moment and visualized you, I immediately saw you with a tool in your hand. The tool could be anything – a garden trowel, a spatula, a pen, a hammer, a paint brush, a computer, one of those long grips for picking up litter – but you very much (my impression anyway) – interact with the world and use many kinds of tools. So it would be Karuna, Jill-of-all-trades, with a tool.
I believe the following may be seen as my magic:
- Sometimes my psychotherapy clients think that I must be able to see right through them, or read their minds.
- The craft projects I do such as making tiny dolls, crocheting, knitting, quilting, etc.
- Creating and inspiring others to join in new projects, such as the PNW Litter Project and the PNW GreenFriends Newsletter.
- The amount of energy I have and what I accomplish with it.
- My use of words in the books I have written and on my blog.
To me though, that isn’t magic. All of it happens when I am “in the flow” and willing to be used as an instrument, i.e. being the hands, of the Divine. May I continue to live in this manner until the end of my days.
Living, Learning and Letting Go 