Magical Thinking

What is the difference between magical thinking and believing in magic? I’m not talking about pulling rabbits out of hats or Harry Potter. I want to talk about the energy of magic, and two ways people embrace it. One of these mindsets is beneficial and the other is dis-empowering.

Believing in magic resonates with the vibration of expansion and possibility. It's a mindset of embracing possibility.

Believing in magic invites you to try new things, follow your intuition and approach life with curiosity. You notice synchronicities and have your eyes open to beauty.

I’m a big advocate of believing in magic because it brings fun and open-heartedness to our experiences. You hold the door open for good things to happen, and they do.

There’s a big difference between believing in magic and magical thinking.

Here are a few phrases that illustrate magical thinking:

“It was meant to be." 

"The Universe will save me."

"If it’s meant to be, the Universe will deliver it."

"The Universe must have had different plans for me”

I realize there are a lot of romantic, faith-promoting themes found in this mindset. It’s part of the soul journey to notice signs, look for synchronicities and cultivate inner faith that the Universe is conspiring for your good. The Universe does have your back, but it’s a co-creative force that works within you. It doesn’t grant wishes like a fairy godmother, and it’s not separate from you. It's definitely not the boss of you. It responds to your will.

Magical thinking is dis-empowering because you end up waiting for some force "out there" to deliver.

When you're mired in magical thinking you don’t set intentions. You don’t take the appropriate actions, and you miss opportunities.

You miss the real magic when you're distracted by magical thinking. If you find yourself mentally dissecting all the situations of your life to discover what the Universe is trying to tell you, you're in a holding pattern. It's a spiritual bypass that can look introspective, but it's not getting you anywhere. It's a pattern of abdicating your power by not making choices and waiting to be "told" what to do. From this space you misinterpret the pulses of your intuition. You can end up undermining your security or creating a lot of drama with an un-grounded leap of blind faith because you expected the Universe to catch you.

You are the creator of your experiences and believing in magic helps you get into a dance with the Universe and collaborate. True magic happens when you're intentionally directing your will and taking empowered, soul-guided actions. Magical thinking leads to abdicating responsibility and hoping that some magical force of good will come in and rescue you.

As an empowered creative soul, embrace the magic, but remember that the Universe responds to your will and you’re in the driver’s seat of your life.