Sharing Magic With You

As I opened my eyes at the end of this morning’s meditation, I was struck with the idea to write about magic in this post to you today. 

The magic I want to share with you is my deepest prayer of late. 

It’s the words I speak as I wake up each morning. 

It’s the words I speak as I fall asleep. 

It’s the words I speak in the middle of the night if I wake up.

It’s the words I speak more and more throughout my day as I remember to.

It’s the deepest part of my “letting go” emotional practice.

And I don’t fully want to share the words with you. 

It’s not that I want to keep them to myself, it’s just that I’m afraid you won’t hear them.

I’m afraid you’ll think you know what I mean, though it's pretty likely you don't. 

I’m afraid you’ll label them as something you already know and move on.

I’m afraid you’ll think you already use them enough.

I’m afraid you won’t know how to use them responsibly.

I’m afraid you’ll miss or misuse the power and magic of these words.

But these words aren’t mine. 

They were shared most powerfully with me through one of the deepest spiritual practices I’ve ever learned and mastered. 

They’ve been shared with most of us from many sources.

I see them on inspirational social media posts a lot. 

They’re just words, and yet I find that when I imbue them with authentic and clear expression from the deepest part of me, and speak them to literally any experience I’m having…

They bring me all I could ever hope for from any experience.

I guess I’ll share them now, but please listen as cleanly as you can, as generously as you can, as reverently as you can…

And if you think you know, then you probably don’t.

So perhaps hear these words as if you’ve never heard them before, and speak them in ways you’ve never imagined speaking them before.

They’re healing. They’re freeing. They’re grounding. 

They connect me like nothing else to the ever-presence of the Divine.

Okay, here they are. 

I share them delicately with you now, dear reader. 

Oh so delicately…

Thank you. I love you.

To this world around me: Thank you. I love you.

To this world within me: Thank you. I love you.

To the Divine vitality animating my existence: Thank you. I love you.

To this very emotion within me (whichever it is!): Thank you. I love you.

To the people in my life: Thank you. I love you.

To each and every aspect of my experience of life in this and every moment: Thank you. I love you.

To you, dear reader: Thank you. I love you.

Much Love. ❤️

Practice

You know of a number of things you can do. 

Right now.

To elevate the quality of your life.

To feel better.

To serve better.

To grow.

Pick one and do it.

Read. 

Walk.

Pray.

Meditate.

Forgive.

Breathe.

Talk.

Observe.

Thank.

Love.

Don’t pick that one thing because you should. (One of my practices is literally giving up the weighty word “should.”)

Don’t pick that other thing only because you were told to. 

Pick that thing that would make a difference for you AND that you’d like to do.

Pick something intentionally.

Pick something generous to yourself and others.

Then do it.

That’s what it is to practice.

If you don’t feel like doing it, get in touch with your want to do it or your commitment to do it.

How else do you get to the Carnegie Hall of living your best life?

Much Love. ❤️

A Powerful and Simple Transformational Tool

This post is about one of the most powerful, simple, and practical transformational tools I’ve come across: Blessing.

It’s transformational in that it alters our experience of life on a dime. 

It’s also a deeply spiritual practice, and it always gets me back in touch with Spirit.

Blessing is a practice of catch-and-replace. 

First, you’ve got to catch your judgments and your fears.

She’s driving too fast!

He’s driving too slow!

The weather is too hot.

It’s too humid. 

I don’t like feeling this way.

I want to feel another way.

He’s always annoyed.

She’s always so mean. 

What if I make a mistake?

What if he gets hurt?

What if she gets lost?

It’s easy to see that these thoughts are weighted. They’re judgments. 

We’re so judgmental! We judge others. We judge the weather. We judge situations. We judge history. We judge the world. We judge the universe. 

We judge strangers without knowing them. We judge people we know because we think we really know them.

We judge ourselves too - our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our actions. 

Judging is one of the chief things that humans do, and we do it out of fear.

Some of our judgments are light and empty. Others are heavy and significant. 

Here’s the root of the problem when it comes to our judgments:

We confuse our thinking about things for the things themselves. We live and be as if our judgments are the truth! And we call that discernment. We call it maturity. We call it experience.

What it actually is: condemning judgment. 

And our judgments aren’t just negative - we have positive judgments too (they’re just usually less destructive).

So the powerful and simple spiritual practice of Blessing begins with catching the veil of judgment you are nearly always looking through.

After catching, the next step is to replace. 

Blessing is a version of positive thinking, but it's much, much deeper. 

Our thoughts have energy - they aren't innocent. While our judgmental thoughts have a destructive energy, blessings have a constructive energy. 

I find that I cannot bless another person without tapping into the deeper part of my own being. I cannot bless another person without accessing genuine compassion for them. I cannot bless another without accessing a bit of Divine grace being gifted to me.

Here’s an example of how it works. Since driving is one of the places we can catch many obvious judgments of others, I’ll use driving as an example. 

Someone pulls out in front of me and drives below the speed limit.

I feel frustration build as a consequence of judgments… (Frustration is a beacon that points towards the judgments that cause it.)

First, I notice the feeling and then catch the judgements: "They shouldn’t drive that way! They’re too slow. They’re oblivious. They’re selfish. They’re rude. They’re inconsiderate."

Second, I replace the judgements with blessings. I bless you. I wish you well. I wish you health and well-being. I wish you safety, satisfaction, ease, and enjoyment. I bless you with expanding awareness of others. I wish you kindness from others, and I wish others kindness from you. I bless your journey, and I bless your life.

I grew up thinking that Blessing was something that only God or clergy could do. But blessing is something we can all do! 

Where judgment cultivates frustration, blessing cultivates love and connection. 

Where judgment cultivates hatred, blessing cultivates compassion. 

Where judgment condemns, blessing forgives.

Where judgment happens automatically and defensively, blessing can only happen with intentionality and generosity.

Consider this: if we can judge others and ourselves so easily and so frequently, perhaps we can also love others and ourselves more easily. Blessing is a direct access to this state of being. 

Blessing transmutes judgment and fear into compassion and love.

We can use Blessing at any time and in any circumstance. And we can even bless ourselves.

In addition to blessing throughout the day, the last thing I do each evening before I fall asleep is bless my family, myself, and as many others and as much of the universe as I can get to. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to master this gentle art.

Much Love. ❤️

P.S. If you're interested in further exploring the power and practice Blessing, besides working with me I recommend the book The Gentle Art of Blessing by Pierre Pradervand.