Making Space for the Magic

Making Space for the Magic

We are currently watching yet another medical drama, on Sky TV, called Transplant. Its about a Syrian refugee living in Canada with his very young sister. He is a qualified doctor and after some hardship gets a job in a big hospital. We are learning his very traumatic back story slowly and I am finding it very thought provoking.

In the episode we watched last night there was a scene where he has a conversation with another doctor and he says, “I don’t know what I am doing” and the other doctor replies “None of us do”.

Ain’t that the truth?

The world as we know it has been rocked in 2020. There was fear, confusion, and anger. But also, an outpouring of love and support for the NHS and each other. People stepped up and helped other people, especially those in our society who needed it most. And surprisingly there was hope.

But 9 months on and despite the promise of an effective vaccine and better methods of treatment, we still seem to be lurching from one disaster scenario to another. I am not planning to debate the rights and wrongs of any particular political situation, there is enough debate going on in that arena elsewhere.

However, that conversation in the TV show last night brought me a sense of relief.

Most of us have absolutely no f*#$ing idea what we are doing most of the time.

I was born in 1958. Growing up I assumed that I would meet someone in my late teens.Get married when I was 21, have a couple of kids in my 20s, be a stay-at-home mum until the kids left, take a little part time job to tide me over until I retired on my state pension at 60 and live out my retirement in the family house with the mortgage paid off, pottering about in my garden with my reliable and faithful husband. There seemed to be a roadmap for my generation which lead to a happily ever after existence.

In reality, I didn’t get married until I was 31, had my kid at 36, divorced at 42, struggled with violence and debt. Was a stressed-out working mum for 20 years who felt a failure most of the time because I had not managed to live my life in the way I believed I would when I was growing up. And I am one of the generation of women who, unfairly, will not now be able to get our state pension until the age of 67!

I am not saying that the roadmap was accurate or at all desirable. The days of the men going out to work while the women stayed at home and raised the kids…well that was never going to be a long-term solution was it? World War 2 changed everything. Women left their kitchens, stepped up and into their power. The roadmap was torn up and discarded. Women were on their way to “having it all” and it was bloody exhausting!

Global events, like a war, or a pandemic, cause seismic shifts in our consciousness. From the beginning of this most recent challenge to our way of life I have had a sense that something good will come out of the lessons we learn.

Like everyone this year I have suffered anxious thoughts, discovered vulnerability in myself that I did not know existed. Found myself challenged in ways I could not imagine. Felt lonely and isolated. Rediscovered what is most important to me. Currently it looks like there are still some tough times ahead. And we are all fed up. Fatigued. Bored and incredibly angry. We want to know how and when things are going to return to “normal”.

But. There is huge joy in realising, and accepting, that most of us simply do not have a blinking clue what we are doing. If we can treat our lives as one huge adventure, then no experience can ever be wasted. Even a global pandemic.

Our thoughts will soon be drifting in the direction of a brand-new year. I will be setting some intentions for 2021 and one of them will be to keep space for whatever might come along. To travel off-piste with an bring-it-on attitude. Open to new experiences and new adventures, even if they have to be socially distanced!

There is a little bubble of delighted anticipation in my tummy. Time for a new voyage of discovery. I am making space for the magic. Come along with me for the ride.

yeats magic quote printable with white background – Pop Shop America

#love #kindness #compassion #connection #makingspace #magic

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