Make Your Own Magic
My “Legs for Days” or “Legs and Heels” sketches were inspired by a friend who asked for art that was just legs… and high heels! A lover of high heels myself, I was excited to take on a new type of drawing in my pencil crayon style.
I often say that “magic exists in the world, even if you have to make it for yourself.” I’ve always loved fantasy! Elves, sorcerers, vampires, witches, spells, abilities and powers! As a child I would spend countless hours in my head – in other worlds, in other times. On top of wishing I had a magic carpet to fly to school – or fly away when I felt threatened or lonely – I always wished there was another layer to the world. A layer that sparkled and shined. So that everything could be much more than what it appeared to be. A layer that helped me feel stronger than I thought I was.
Fantasy was my escape. I lived most of my childhood & adolescence creating worlds and characters in my head, constantly fantasizing that I was someone and somewhere else magical. But, what if in the midst of this creation, I stopped seeing the inherent capabilities and strengths inside myself? What if the magic I desperately sought was with me all along?
That’s something I thought about while I was drawing this.
What if every movement you made in the world trailed with magic? What if you believed in your own magic all the time? Would you bask in the marvel of it all?! Would you smile and appreciate all your moments that much more?
Would you start believing in yourself, as if you already had everything you need to reach your highest fantasies?
I had a piece of Celtic art that sat on my dresser for a long time this year. It stated ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.’ I bought it originally as a gift for someone very meaningful to me, who I hoped to inspire through it. I wanted him to start feeling that magic in the world that I saw. It was given back to me when that relationship dissolved. I wonder if things would have been different if I had truly believed and lived the magic I spoke so avidly for? No matter the cause of that fallout, I kept it as a reminder to myself to find my own magic.
Little did I know, I would need this piece of art later down the road when I left my husband and try life on my own after thirteen years together. I stared at it almost every night before going to sleep for months in hopeful meditation.
Until one day recently, I realized I hadn’t looked at it for weeks. Life had finally started to get better! However, It wasn’t any miracle or magic that created this upswing. It was sheer determination, persistence and intention that flipped my situation from dreary to dancing.
I’ve worked to achieve many great goals in my life; I’ve always been very driven. This time was different. It required personal work that I avoided through fantasy my entire life. It needed something that I’ve never quite mustered before – my new life needed belief in self.
Even though I started building wonderful momentum inside myself, I still felt like I wasn’t dancing in life. I’d developed the habit in the last few months of living by affirmations. So I created a new affirmation – “nothing is more valuable or meaningful than all your present moments.” And I started visualizing really loving and embracing all my daily moments.
Has it worked?! Well, a little while ago I got caught in a rain storm walking back from dinner with a friend to their house. No umbrella. No raincoat. We got turned around. We went on a side adventure. We stopped and talked on the sidewalk. We couldn’t stop laughing!
My past self would have grumped. Would have wished for something magical to make the situation better. Or cared that my clothes had soaked through. Or stressed that I didn’t have a second change of clothes. Or worried that everything in my purse had been ruined!
It occurred to me later that what I visualized all this time actually happened – something I never thought would happen! Something truly magical. I’d learned to dance in the rain. And I loved every moment of it!
So I’m truly convinced!
Magic *does* exist in the world. In every step you take.
Rain or shine.
Sarah