The Magic of Naming
One of the ways to bring some magic into your life is to think about the idea of naming as magic. When we name something we give it a flavor, a description, a way of being looked at and experienced. If we name it something that reflects a positive image then we are using magic for good. If we name it something negative or bland then we are using magic to bring about more negativity or blandness to our lives. If we have done that in some area of our lives, then today is a good day to change that. As the fall leaves change color and bring beauty to our world, so too you bring some beauty to yours by naming or re-naming something in a positive way. I use the word perfect a lot - not in a perfectionist way - but in a way that makes me feel good about my life.
Here is an example. I hurt me knee last winter and since then I have had trouble getting down onto the floor. I found cleaning my bathtub a problem. But I came up with a solution. I went to the Dollar Store and bought a long handled sponge mop -it cost a dollar - that in itself was perfect. I then sprinkled Comet around the tub and used the mop to clean it - it worked perfectly! It took only a few minutes, it didn't require me to get down on my hands and knees and when I was finished, I said to myself, "Perfect, that was prefect! I re-named it from a chore that hurt my knee to one that made me feel like a genius. You can do this too - find something you have named an ugly name and find a way to do it differently so you can re-name it in a way that makes you feel like a genius as well.
Allowing for the Mystery of Life
We live in a world of solutions and how to do things. Everywhere we look from the morning paper, to our computer's home page to Facebook we are bombarded with what to do, where to do it and what the consequences will be if we fail to do it - whatever it is. Even this blog is about that. But we live in a mysterious world, regardless of what the scientists tell us. Sometimes we just don't know why things happen or what we should do about them. Sometimes we simply need to trust in a higher power or simply in the idea that we can't know everything.
Here is an example. I know someone who applied for a job last year. She had all the qualifications, she did a phone interview where she was asked all these questions - this interview took about three quarters of an hour. Then she got called for an in person interview and she again answered a ton of questions and believed she had done an excellent job of answering them. She was then called in for a final interview and she felt she did great on that one too. She felt very certain that she was going to get offered this job. But three weeks went by and she heard nothing. Finally wrote and ask them what happened. They said they were not going to hire her based on the feedback from the team. They did not say they hired a more qualified candidate or one that suited them more. She was mystified. She wondered what in the world she had done to make the team not like her. She reviewed all her answers and how she had answered them and she simply could not figure it out. Eventually she let it go and simply trusted that the right thing WOULD come along. Then one day about six months later an opportunity presented itself that was far and away better than this job would ever have been for her. She still could not figure out how this all came about, but what she knew was that she trusted that something had prevented her from getting that job and now she could take advantage of this new thing. It was a mystery she simply accepted and moved into the new thing with an open and thankful heart. Is there some mystery in your life that you need to accept so you can move into something better for you? Think about it.
Romancing Your Life
To me, romance is like decorating - you put some color, some spice, some flourishes, some embellishments, some beauty into your life just as you would in decorating your home. My daughter is in the midst of doing a major re-decorating project for her home. Her teenage son asked me the other day why she was doing this. He said the old furniture and furnishings worked just fine. He didn't understand why she was going to so much trouble. I told him that this is what women do - we build nests because women by nature want to have a home that is not only comfortable but beautiful so that the people who live there with her will be happy and will stay there with her. I told him it was in our DNA. She is romancing her home and it is turning out beautifully. But you can romance your life in other ways as well. It's simply a matter of paying attention and adding a few romantic things to the mix.
You can romance you image. Let's say you are all business You wear practical clothes with little regard for style or color and have a wash and wear hairstyle. By the way, this can work for men as well as women. Then one day you look at yourself in the mirror and what you see bores you. It's time to romance that image. Get a new haircut, color your hair, buy some new more stylish clothes, wear earrings, if you're a woman, shave off that 70's mustache if you're a man, pick a color or a special item of clothing and make it your signature. Remember, what was romantic the first few times becomes hackneyed and old a few years down the road. Putting some romance into your life means keeping it fresh and updated, no matte what it is, that's what makes it romantic.
So today as you go through your day, think about what you can name or re-name is a positive and uplifting way. How can you let go of some mysterious event or situation and trust in a higher power to take care of you and last put a little romance into your life by adding some beauty and spice to it. I'll bet you'll be glad you did.
Blessings, Lorraine
