This year I decided upon some guiding words to support me in creating the life experience I want in 2016. Every year I choose a “theme” with a word or two to represent it. This year I had FIVE words come up and I just couldn’t part with any of them so I decided to see how it would go if I honored all of them. The first word I chose was “powerful“. The next word in line is the word “magical”.

First I think it’s important for you to know what I mean when I say “magic”. My definition of magic is:

The successful result of any conscious action taken to bring something from the metaphysical realm – (the realm of wishes, dreams, hopes, ideas, plans, brainstorms, etc.) into the material, physical realm (yes, everyday life!) having the hallmark of ease, grace, synchronicity and often an element of surprise and delight.

That’s pretty much sums up what I want to be experiencing on a regular basis. Some people call it the Law of Attraction, I prefer to call it Conscious Creation or Magic.

There is the element of “as above, so below” or “as within, so without”. But that particular aspect is not exclusive to magic, – it is just a fact of life. Our inner world creates our outer world. Our outer experience mirrors our inner experience. Magic is what happens when we begin using this aspect consciously.

One of the things that can trip up aspiring magicians pretty quickly (and sometimes even seasoned magicians!) is becoming discouraged when it seems like nothing is happening in spite of our best magical efforts. I call this the waiting game, and it’s part of the basic progression that is useful to be aware of anytime we attempt to consciously create an experience. If we pay attention to the natural world it will show up over and over. It looks like this:

Three Phases of Conscious Creation

1. It all starts in the realm of the metaphysical…this is the realm of ideas, dreams, brainstorms, wishes, etc. We can draw a parallel to planting seeds in a garden. This is the phase where we come up with intentions around what we want, we get as clear as we can on how we want to feel (we can’t plant carrot seeds and grow cucumbers!), and we start telling a new story. We start expressing gratitude for these things. We get aligned with what we want. Those new stories and thankful messages are like seeds. This is often a very exciting time. This phase is often marked by a feeling of possibility and exuberance. A sort of “anything is possible” feeling as we dream and plan and get lined up with how we want to feel.

2. Then, we begin the second phase – this phase is likened to the process of germination – this is the period of time where it looks like NOTHING is happening. And yet, this is the time when EVERYTHING is happening. There is A LOT going on under the surface even though it seems that everything is the same old, same old. Same old dirt in the garden. Looks like nothing has changed. This is the period of time that most people give up and revert back to telling the same old stories and focusing on the things that aren’t working. Telling the same old stories and focusing on what isn’t working is poison to those seeds by the way. The seeds of intention need to be watered and fertilized with new stories, gratitude, and faith. Just like a gardener who faithfully waters her seeds, KNOWING that soon she’ll be witnessing little green sprouts bursting forth. She does not dig up the dirt again, she doesn’t need to “check on the seeds”. No, she keeps watering and believing and picturing what her full grown garden is going to look like.

3. And finally…sprouts, then buds, then blossoms, then FULL BLOOM Manifestation! The harvest! Most people don’t wait long enough to see this part, which is why most people are living the same patterns over and over even though they have the power to change everything. Most people give up, go back to telling the same old stories of how things are working and stay living in the same garden dirt instead of enjoying the full bloom of manifestation.

Learning to hold the vision is possibly the most powerful thing we can do to shift from an outworn reality to a new and better one.

Most people may have trouble playing the waiting game that is intrinsic in nature, and in magic. I know you are not most people. I know that you can set yourself up for success by being patient, seeing the finished garden in your mind’s eye and learning to hold the vision, refraining from focusing on what isn’t working and telling a new story full of power.

This, is how magic happens. I am creating a magical year this year. I hope you’ll join me.

By the way, if you’d like some support in holding the vision, pop on over to The Love & Magic Salon. You’ll find a beautiful group of Lovely Magicians over there. We’d love to have you join us.

Love & Magic,