Deciding what was really important was the final step. This last part was the most difficult. How would I determine if having something or someone in my life was important? What was I suppose to do if the answer was no? These were questions I struggled with and still do to this day. However, I’m okay with the struggle; this is the part of life where I determine what will help shape me and my family as a whole. I had lived my life understanding what I was supposed to do; what marked success to the greater society around me. I use to follow that dream of others, but those “things” left me empty so what would make me feel complete?
I sold my house so that my husband and I could purchase together a farm that hadn’t been tended to for several years. I loved my old house but I needed to leave the city where we lived. The quiet of the country was important, or should I say quiet space that allowed me time to think and reflect was important. Rebuilding my spiritual life and strengthening my connection to the divine was important. It gave me a peace that cannot be compared - a peace from within. Listening and paying attention to my loved ones was important. I needed to have them know that I loved them with all my heart and in doing so found that they felt the same in return. We were not on this earth to hurt but rather to help one another.
We turned off the television and began to talk to each other while holding hands as we took long walks or sat outside. We didn’t need a news feed. I found that if there is something important going on in the world someone will tell me. I didn’t need to go looking for the negative. I watched the stars and hunted for fire flies, attended art fairs and music festivals, and in the end found that I didn’t need to go seek the magic of life that it had been there all along. The magic was within me.
It was this last revelation that opened the door to all thing that belong in my life – we don’t need to seek outside of ourselves to live a magical life; we only need to fall in love with the self to understand that we carry it with us all the time. None of the external trappings made a difference. The only thing that did make a difference was the spiritual space that I created within me. A labyrinth in the yard is nice, but it does not make me who I am. It’s is a reflection of the life that I have made with my family.
So in order to live a magical life I give you these simple guidelines that helped me do the same:
Talk with your loved ones about what is going on in your life. Tell them the good, the bad and the ugly even if you don’t know how. The words will flow when they are needed. Everything starts with communicating with others and so must the process of letting go and healing.
Walk away from that which causes you harm. I know that isn’t as simple as it sounds. There are times that this cannot happen. Whether it is due to financial, family or personal obligations some things cannot be left behind. But that doesn’t mean that you have to carry the anguish and anger that the situation has created. Wash your hands, literally, at the end of the work day and leave the emotions and energy of the job at the job. Allow yourself time to relax in the peace and quiet stillness as the day leaves your hands and flows down the drain. Find a quiet space to see the day slip from you… even on a commuter train. Play ambient music with ear buds on and allow yourself to drift in the calm of the melody. Let the train, bus or car pull you out of the black morass that has weighed you down. Consider it your chariot to an oasis of calm transporting you to tranquility.
Begin to listen to the world around you. At first you will only hear the noise, the chatter of words around you but after a while you will be able to truly listen and understand to the meaning and feel of all that surrounds you. Sit quietly and listen to your heart and the rhythm of nature all around you. You don’t need 56 acres, just a seat on a couch where you can close your eyes and listen. The universe, the divine, will speak when you are ready to listen. From here the path opens and all possibility can be seen. Not all of it will be feasible, at least not at first. Some of it will be fantastical and almost laughable, but it is what you need to have your heart see, feel and hear. Listening like this makes the day bearable, aiding you in finding your magical life. It can transform what was a burden into infinite possibilities. When we listen doors open and the opportunities we wished for suddenly appear. Take them if you dare; there is nothing to lose and only inner peace to be gained.
Determine what is really important to you. Letting go of other people’s expectations can be more liberating than imagineable. Is the only success truly of a material nature or is pleasure found in a more simple lifestyle? It is a question that has a different answer for everyone. I found that for me watching grandbabies giggle, fire flies in the trees, quiet evenings at home, a simple smile, a warm touch and summer nights around a fire with friends were the really important things. Enjoying the laughter of others and finding value in what I had to offer in return, even if that was nothing more than a simple hug, was important. Understanding that all the magic that a person needs is found within; that is all that matters.
So take time to talk, listen and understand what is important in your own life. Walk away from that which is unhealthy physically, mentally and spiritually and begin to nurture what feeds the soul. You are the magic, all you need do is unlock it and walk the labyrinth that resides in your heart.