Lessons from a Month of Seeking Magic: Part 1

This blog is part 1 of a 3 part series on Lessons from a Month of Seeking Magic.

At the beginning of August I shared a poem on Instagram…

In the caption I shared how I felt like I had been craving magic in my life, how I spoke with my spiritual director about it, and how I had experienced the feeling of being torn between contentment and craving; contentment of life as is while still craving something more. That ‘more’ was the idea of more magic, to be part of something BIG and magical and wonderful and, as I said on Instagram…

“‘I'm content AND I crave something more"

I'm witnessing the everyday magic AND I can still crave that beautiful, expansive, holy, something 'more' that invites me deeper with the Divine.

And so, the daily walks began.

The daily walks to notice what magic feels like and to make note of what makes that feeling bubble up inside. I've taken pictures of things on my ventures and each day I open the same note on my phone and write out what it was that felt magical.

The thing about magic, wonder, awe, beauty and mystery is their interconnectedness that says 'be here now to witness' but also 'consider the possibilities of what could be'.

The thing about Magic, Wonder, Awe, Beauty and Mystery is their interconnectedness that says 'be here with Me now to witness' but also 'consider the possibilities of what could be as we create together'.”

And so, August came and went…

During the month of August I searched for magic daily.

I went for a walk every single day (except for one travel day) and during these walks I would ask, ‘God, what feels like magic today?’. Each day I asked, and each day magic was revealed. 

Magic came in the form of petals of flowers that seemed like the most delicate of tissue paper and the butterfly on the street right before I turned the corner into the back alley to return home. Magic felt like the first yellow leaves on a big, green tree and looking up upon my first step outside to see the moon still aglow. Magic came in all forms of fairy lights around pillars of front entrances, to patterns of slow blinking on trees, to the solitary glow of a house light above the black, arched doorway on a rainy morning that felt like an autumn invitation to come inside where beautiful moments of magic and mystery would unfold into stories of romance and wonder and presence and treasures (and yes, I did write that last one down just like that in my note on my phone) .

A note on my phone recorded a little (or sometimes long) note of what felt like magic each day I faithfully stepped out into the world to try to find the Magic, Wonder, Awe, Beauty and Mystery awaiting me that would make me feel a sense of uplift in my spirit.

And as the month came to a close, the blank page of a journal allowed me the space to reflect on what I learned this past month of seeking Magic:

“Seeking magic daily taught me the importance of getting OUT of my little bubble of house and into the world.

It taught me that glow and glimmer are real things (more on that in part 2).

It taught me that magic doesn’t always strike twice– I only saw the dragonflies on the wall once in the 31 days– being present to magic lets you witness things you might not see again.

Some things feel magical every time you see them– like the lights on the columns on the one house.

Also, magic presents itself when you ask to see it; “God, what feels like magic today?” is like pulling back a curtain from in front of your eyes and suddenly the world isn’t as it was.

I learned I fear losing the feeling of magic to monotony. I learned that growth/change and transitions are magical to me. That ambiance creates the internal flutter; especially that imperfection allows magic to shine more than anything else.

I learned that I can quickly be the one squishing out magic so I can no longer see it– limiting down to mere timelines and steps what has the ability to be magic right before me.

I learned I prefer to be alone and have silence except for nature when I walk outside during my ‘wonder walks’.”

As something distracted me from continuing on with my reflection, I jotted down a few additional notes about a different topic and closed the cover, letting the above reflections be all that’s left at the end of a month.

September has begun and now that I’ve completed a month of seeking magic, it feels like the most natural thing to ask when I step outside, ‘God, what feels like magic?’. I don’t add things to the note on my phone (although, trust me, I thought about how cool it would be to continue to jot something down every single day so that I could show this big list at the end of the year which documents 5 months of magic but realized it was perhaps more ego-driven to make those notes then be present to the moments and let my memory serve me), but I still seek the moments, notice them, and, like the curtain being lifted on the world around me, magic is always there.

Magic, Wonder, Awe, Beauty and Mystery are always there.

The presence of the Divine, revealed in moments I declare as magic, wonder, awe, beauty and mystery, are ever present.

Waiting.

The slow transition from season to season, from one flower blooming to another shedding, from twilight to daylight, the moon still glowing brightly while the sun is rising. It’s these moments magic is lingering like a fog on everything around us. It’s here we take a step outside, take a deep breath, and simply notice without agenda, with overflowing appreciation for the Presence all around us and even here, we find the craving of content AND more begin to be fulfilled.