#11 Magic is Essential.

I think it’s really important to tap into what inspires you, what makes you grow and truly feel alive. I know that sounds like something so very obvious, but how often do we treat the spices of life like luxuries, rather than necessities? I mean, everyone will agree that working in retail is a dumb, dead-end pursuit, but where do we so often go from there? We tell people that they should focus everything on getting into a high-paying, high-end, high-stress career because that’s the obviously better option.

But is it?

I understand that every career, every worthwhile pursuit, will require seasons of focus. Classes will have to be attended, less-than-glamorous positions will need to be filled, and the “magical” stuff may need to be put on hold. As I have talked about before, that might be normal. But even during those tough times, we shouldn’t put ourselves in a position where we devote everything to those pursuits. And we most certainly shouldn’t set ourselves up to put our inspirations on hold forever. 

In other words, if you love music and want to write some on the side, don’t become a lawyer that has to spend every waking moment studying cases. If you love to go hiking on the weekends, don’t marry someone that wants you to be home with them all of Saturday and Sunday. Don’t set yourself up for failure in the long run. A life of coping with misery is no life at all. Set yourself up to live for passion and inspiration.

And, as I said earlier, don’t ever treat inspiration like something that can be completely thrown out, even temporarily. But wait: didn’t I say that we should have seasons of “paying your dues?” How do we reconcile these two ideas? Times of paying your dues should be times of reduced fun. If you love music, you may need to dedicate more time to the annoying task of learning your scales, rather than trying to jump right to jamming with some friends. Once you have developed some good habits and foundations you can do some of the fun stuff, but not before. 

Or maybe your life just needs to be busy for a while. Maybe you need to put in some effort to get some qualifications for work. Maybe that means that you will have to spend more time studying and a little less doing your personal reading or playing video games. But the amount of time you spend getting inspired should never be reduced to 0. Play your favorite tunes on your way to work, schedule an hour to cool off at the end of the day. Do whatever you have to do, but don’t let your magic run out entirely. Because when it does, all that stuff that you set out to do will eventually collapse as well. You will fall apart and you won’t be able to get back up without it.

I’m reminded of the Bible, and how God commanded us to take a day of rest. I’m not so strict as to say that it must be Sunday, or that it must be practiced a certain way, but what if we used this as a good guideline to making our own sabbath: it is to be a day of recharging what is drained and getting back in touch with what inspires us. What if we made it a day completely free of those pesky demands and weights that hold us down all week, and tapping back into the reason that we committed to those tasks in the first place? What if the sabbath was a time to get re-inspired to live? 

But even beyond just the command for a day of rest, I believe that there are enough spaces in the cracks of life that we simply don’t really utilize. Commutes become an obnoxious routine, weekends become a time for chores, chores become a thing of boredom and moments not spent working are for collapsing so that we can do it all over again. What if we turned those commutes into time for our favorite tunes? What if we took a chunk of our weekends to tell everyone to take a hike? (Unless you want to go hiking. Then go hiking and tell them all not to.) And what if we took a little bit of our time after work to commit to something that fills our life with purpose? 

I know this may not seem like an easy thing to truly do, but try to generate some momentum by sticking your foot in the door. Give yourself a few minutes to watch one episode of something, or ten minutes to read your favorite book. Learn to get creative and to fit inspiration into the cracks of your life. It may seem difficult at first, but if you keep at it, eventually you will learn to fill your time with those crucial recharging moments. And these moments will generate some magical momentum that you can use to make a little more out of your day than you did before.

I pray that you start to see those cracks in your life. That you begin to see the moments that could be better utilized for inspiration. I pray that those insights find you and that you find a way to recharge your magical spark, making more of your life than ever before.

Until next time

May Peace be your Guide.