Magic has been occupying my mind. It started with hearing this interview of Katherine May. At one point, the author was talking about meeting Philip Carr Gomm, recalling his telling her “that in the pagan year, there is a ceremony or a ritual or something being marked, every six weeks, across the year, and that that gives hope for anybody who is currently suffering.”
The coach in me loved her further fleshing out the concept, getting to “But actually, you get a kind of marker of your progress, so the next time that something comes up in the calendar, you can feel how far away you actually are from the last time you celebrated, and that that helps you to move through, and you can start to look towards the next one, and a pleasure in the next one, perhaps, as a way of dividing up those long months.”
This all led me to believe that right now—the midpoint between the darkest day and the vernal equinox—is a symbolically solid time to plant intention. I considered what in my life I would like to see more of. The word that bubbled up? Magic. And that’s loaded for me.
I’ve been the behind-the-scenes player many times. I know firsthand the prep, planning, and testing it takes to make something seem to appear effortlessly out of nowhere. It’s a lot of work!
But add two letters and you’ve got “magical.” Magical events sustain me: Bright scenes in nature, candlelit rooms at sunset, a sudden swelling of appreciation for the human condition. In coaching, it is that moment someone recognizes truth in themselves. It’s heartening to hear “I’ve never put those things together before,” or “I just haven’t been able to say that’s what I want.”
I’m understanding I would like both: the magic and the magical.
Shorter time frames, creating intention, and naming specifically what we want are elements of effective goal-setting. Take a look at my upcoming workshop Resolution Revisited if you’re feeling ready to explore change in your life.