The Magic of Being Bold

Photo by Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash

Do you remember when Harry Potter visits Platform 9 ¾? The portal to the magical world is accessed by running straight at a wall in the muggle train station. And somehow, he is magically transported, along with his luggage and beloved owl, into an entirely different reality.

He never “figured it out” first or did a bunch of research or read 18 how-to books. He just did it.

I feel like I’m asked to do this same thing on a nearly daily basis.

That my soul guides me to ignore the rules of the ordinarily reality and take actions that makes no sense until I’m standing on the other side, marveling at circumstances I had no idea even existed.

Once you start to trust inner guidance, it gets easier to continue doing so.

At least some of the time.

Apparently, some of my limiting beliefs are hardwired much more effectively than others. Or maybe that’s my constitution/natal chart peeking through. Dealing with bureaucracy is almost always a struggle, but I’m determined to magic my way through these situations any minute now.

It’s easy for me to believe that Reiki can heal many ailments, some of them instantly, others gradually, because I’ve witnessed it time and time again. I’ve cultivated relationships with people who have similar beliefs and experiences, which reinforce my own. It’s a wall I can run at without flinching.

And yet, I’m constantly interacting with people who look at me like I’m telling them something utterly imaginary can create the wellness that they desire. Reiki is indeed a system of healing that runs on counter-culture tracks. So, I haven’t yet forgotten that my beliefs are far from mainstream.  

I’m find myself often disbelieving that I can live a magical lifestyle that does not seem to exist in the muggle world. I want to work a 20-hour week and have all of the perks of full-time employment. My self-care routine is essentially a part-time job and doing the deep healing work I’ve been assigned requires a lot of time, attention, energy and spaciousness.

Since I don’t have a trust fund or a sugar daddy, most reasonable people would counsel me that it’s impossible to work so little and expect such rewards. Ethically minded people might suggest that it’s just not right to enjoy the luxury of wellness (is wellness actually a luxury!?) without struggling in exchange. Some spiritual folks might think it’s bad karma or improper to thrive while others suffer, as if I were taking away anybody else’s enjoyment by enhancing my own.

I call bullshit.

In the world on the other side of the wall I am being guided to run into headfirst, I believe it’s possible to have leisurely mornings with meditation, nourishment, and walks in the woods. That it’s possible to engage in meaningful conversations with dear friends in the park on a Tuesday afternoon. That it’s possible, even advisable, to take care of my own needs before I go to work to take care of other people. And that I can finish my workday before I am completely drained of all life-force.

I believe in a world where everyone who wants this can have it too.

I don’t have any proof, but my heart is steering me in this direction. It doesn’t matter how many naysayers stand before me, I’m going for it.

Wait. What?! Radical, isn’t it. Heresy, even.

Yes. You got me. I’m a heretic.

I don’t believe it’s the world that everyone desires to inhabit, even if they knew it existed. But it’s the dream I’ve been given and am consistently pointed towards. My own personal Shire, land of the Hobbits, second breakfasts and lazing about in the sunshine drinking tea.

If you’re a dwarf or an elf, you probably aren’t interested in moving to the Shire, but I do believe there is an oasis just for you, accessible via your own personal Platform 9 ¾. (Yes, I know I’ve mixed in an altogether different mythical saga here.) 

Developing a relationship with your soul might be the key to getting there.

And it all begins with a willingness to be guided by something other than the intellect, devotion to listening to the voice within and the courage to do something out of the ordinary and risk rocking the boat.

(It probably means restricting your exposure to the news, mainstream media, social media, and all advertisements. Just sayin’.)

It means holding the current reality along with the belief that the desired reality is possible even when you don’t know how, and all without making yourself or your goals wrong. If it’s in alignment with your soul’s path, you will be guided there. It it’s not in alignment, you’ll still be guided, but in a different direction.

And if your guidance points you at a solid-seeming wall, don’t be fooled. There’s so much that exists beyond the ordinary world if we are open to taking a chance.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”

― William Hutchison Murray, Scottish moutaineer

Be bold!