Life magic

My house is decorated in skeletons, bats, spiders, zombies and witches in the lead up to tomorrow’s Halloween. Every year for the past 18 years I’ve hosted a Halloween party of some sort. It was a tradition we started in England the year my eldest was one and continues today. Halloween is one of my favourite holidays and over the years I’ve collected a staggering amount of decorations and costumes for someone who lives in a country where Halloween isn’t really a thing.

Despite having a huge trunk full of costumes, almost every year I dress up as a witch. I have the world’s most fabulous witch hat and as any good witch knows, the hat is the most important part of the outfit. Just putting that hat on my head somehow feels magical. Even if I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than a black dress. Just wearing the hat magically transforms me into someone who feels like a witch. Who is a witch. Someone who is magical. It doesn’t take much.

That’s the thing with magic. It doesn’t take much and often magic can hardly be perceived by the naked eye when it’s occurring. Besides, most of us go around in our busy lives never taking the time to notice it. But magic is all around us all of the time. We just need to pay attention.

My life has felt strangely magical this month. I’ve been so overwhelmed with all of the changes that are manifesting in my life that I’ve had to just slow down and be present each day; tackling that day’s tasks and taking small steps toward my larger goal. And each day, magical things happen. The right person comes into my life, I receive a magical telephone call that changes my working life, I have a conversation with someone at a party that leads me to meet someone else I need to know. The right thing happens at the right time. It’s magical really. I can’t organise or control what’s happening in my life at the moment, nor would I want to. The Universe does a better job than me, making sure I’m on my destined path. As I let go and allow, I watch in awe at the magic unfolding around me.

It’s Spring here in Australia which always feels like a funny time to be celebrating Halloween since I grew up in the northern hemisphere where it is autumn. Here, as I sit writing this on my back deck, are numerous signs of magic. Each day there are more bright green leaves unfurling on the trees in my back yard. The jasmine is flowering in my hedge, giving off a heady perfume next to me. My tomato seedlings are growing and developing blossoms. The flowers in my garden are starting to bloom.

Nature is full of magic.

I’ve been reminded recently that I am inherently magical as well. I’ve always been a connector of people; introducing people to each other who need to meet. This was brought home to me by a comment on my Facebook page on my post ‘When a Dream Dies”. One of my readers mentioned how because of me and my work, she ended up meeting a number of people who have been vital to her work advocating for patients in the Australian healthcare landscape. I was blown away. She’s an important person doing important work. I hadn’t realised the magic that had ensued in her life through my connections.

This blogtober business will come to an end tomorrow. So far I’ve shared my crazy month long journey with readers from the U.S., Australia, Japan, Singapore, Egypt, India, France, Germany, the U.K., Spain, New Zealand, South Africa and Peru. That feels like magic to me too. That what I write has been read by all of you, out there, around the world. I’ve gained followers over the month by both email and through WordPress. People identify with what I write.

The magic of this blog continues. The blog has helped me reconnect with a number of people I have lost touch with over the years. It’s also helped me find other bloggers that I admire. Reading their posts often provides the counter I need from listening to the media and helps me believe that the entire world hasn’t gone completely mad. And this blog has helped me focus my attention for the past month, helping me notice and be present in the middle of the maelstrom, and then finding the time and courage to write about it.

Magic turns up each and every day in each of our lives, if we are open to it. The good thing is, we don’t have to put on a hat to notice it.

Where has magic shown up for you today?