More Magic
I would have been petrified to write a book like Bigger Than Us one five years ago. I would have typed trepidatiously while second-guessing what every cynical person out there might say. I have always felt inferior to cynical people. I’ve labelled them ‘cool’, ‘edgy’ perhaps even more ‘intellectual’ than me but, honestly, at this point in my life I’m so over that.
I love exploring spirituality and what else lies within us and outside of us. The magic, the connection, the inexplicable. I LOVE IT! I’m an out-and-out spiritual junkie and there is no stopping me. So, in short, if you are extremely cynical about this sort of thing, that’s cool, welcome along. My job is not to convince you otherwise; it’s to hopefully give you some other options and tools that might help you find more meaning, magic and purpose in life.
We often think purpose comes from having power or opportunity but that’s not the sort of purpose I’m talking about. I’m talking about purpose and meaning from within. An inner knowing that propels you towards a deeper experience of life.
The book is about getting under the itchy clothes of life. Getting beneath the thoughts, rumination and constant noise of the modern world. It’s connecting the dots and making sense of the nonsensical. This process throughout the book is not wishy-washy or surface. It isn’t exclusively about burning incense and partaking in gong baths while wearing smocks (although they may feature if there is reason to); it’s about getting curious and cultivating the willingness to see life in its full-coloured, bold, ever-changing beauty.
I heard a term coined recently that made sense of the commodification of spirituality in recent years: ‘spirituality lite’, nodding to the vast interest in spiritual rituals without the deeper exploration or openness underpinning them. For example (and please remember I’m not judging anyone here as I’m on this learning curve with you all), many out there may partake in yoga waiting for a six-pack to emerge without experiencing the deep connection from the breath work and mental stillness of the practice. Many will burn sage in their homes hoping that negative energy will magically disappear from their lives without any willingness to look at why they might be attracting negative energy into their lives in the first place. For us to go on this journey together, you will not need to purchase a rose quartz toilet seat or go anywhere near a wind chime. You need nothing more than an open mind and a little curiosity.
Making the Ordinary Extraordinary
This isn’t a new way of thinking for me, thanks to dear Lin Cotton. The mothership and I have talked about spirituality more than any other subject over my lifetime. Mum is on a constant mission for meaning and mostly magic. She often wants the magical answer or explanation to help soothe worry and fear rather than a statistic or something purely practical. I’ve watched her zoom in on orbs in photographs to find minuscule, hidden images that may inspire or guide her. She has found many blurry outlines of her late dog Wilf trapped in floating orbs caught on camera in a snapshot moment, which may sound very out of the box to you but, again, if these moments bring peace and connection to the individual, why question it or judge? She always actively encouraged me to look outside of everyday thinking to find the extraordinary and I’m eternally grateful for that.
At a young age, I was inadvertently introduced by Mum, to meditation even though I had no clue what it was. She had a cassette (for anyone under 25 reading this, you can indeed have sympathy for my generation having to rely on cassettes and their often-tangled tape) which she would often pop on for us both to listen to. We would lie on the 80s dusty-pink floral sofa and zone out while listening to an audio experience that to this day is still crystal clear in my mind.
The narrator, using hushed tones, would usher you through a wooden door at the end of a long mosaic-tiled corridor and there you would find yourself in a house with many rooms. Each room we were guided into held a different colour from the last. The first room was red with many red objects within, which you could pick up and examine. The next room was yellow in hue and contained many sunshine coloured objects of interest. I adored letting my mind wander through this imaginary house and eventually on to a shoreline on a beach umbrellaed with stars. I can so vividly remember the images my imagination threw up in those childhood moments, perhaps more vividly than the real-life occurrences that I experienced. What I didn’t realise was that this imagined house was emulating the chakras and their colours and purpose. As an eight-year-old I merely found it a relaxing and super-fun experience but really it was a beautiful, gentle introduction to how we can relax our minds into a meditative state. This experience also subliminally taught me to look outside the box. To reach for the seemingly impossible, to seek the magic and to make the ordinary extraordinary.
Originally published in full on stylist.co.uk. Re-published with permission. Part 2.
Image Credit: Instagram
- Fearne Cotton, author of Bigger Than Us