AGEISM

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I love the theme for this New Year, Roaring into the '20s. It speaks for itself as we began the New Year here on the Lower Mainland, B.C., with our first snowfall. I was impressed by how quickly the city sent snow plows out to clear the streets. I began this year mostly alone, sorting out a lot of those sticky emotions that are just there and get ignored as I go through my day. I realize how comfortable it is just to let the feeling pass, as I get busy doing something or nothing in particular, especially as I age.

But I then I had an epiphany, and realized that aging means that I no longer should be dealing with any emotions of insecurity, regret, disappointment, or guilt; none of those negating feelings were acceptable anymore. I have decades of experience to tap into, and that should be enough to absolve myself of any wrong feelings that I may have learned to hold on to. No matter what occurred in my life, I must stand up and be who I am today. My past taught me to be more than I was back then, and that is who I must be in the world today, the me that survived all of my past.

I recently watched this great show on ageism, Frankie and Grace, starring Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, and it brought so many issues up in my face. I realized how easy it is to use age as a cop-out for so many things. Aging is not about giving up; it's about standing up. Being blessed with age, and with your full capacities, makes you a blessing to be shared with everyone in your environment. Some of the younger generations may tend to become condescending in their ways of thinking they know more than we do because we are old. Some of us may get pushed aside because we allow the attitude of the young to break us down and put us in our place. Being old does not mean climbing into a box and hiding. Many indigenous cultures honor the Elders blessed with the wisdom that comes with age. They hold a special place in their society, and their knowledge is highly valued.

I am fortunate to be able to volunteer at Kennedy Seniors Recreation Centre in Delta B.C... I have come to realize just how much I appreciate aging as I witness seniors in different stages of aging being out in the community, maintaining their health and lifestyle with such vigor and joy. There is a dinner and dance celebration at least once a month, and the turnout is incredible. I realize that places like this are worth their weight in gold with all the knowledge accumulated here. The elderly may be pushed aside in society, but some of us are uniting to live a better quality of life in this stage of our lives.

Being active as we age allows our minds to stay sharp. Now is not the time to give up on our dreams because we now have the wisdom and patience to move ahead in our lives if we so choose. We will always have a place in society as long as we do not give it up. We are still able to change the world if only with one person at a time. We all have at least one superpower to share, one gold coin that means something special to us and that someone needs us to share. We are valuable with decades of wisdom.

Knowledge is power, and we are powerhouses no matter what anyone else says or thinks of us. If we have made it this far in life, then we are heroes. If we have made it this far and have a legacy of children and grandchildren, then we are superheroes. The world will appreciate us as much as we honor, respect, and enjoy ourselves. I always see myself as a bottle of fine wine, slowly aging in time to become more vibrant and fuller. I am akin to the image of the pregnant Goddess in history, which relates to Womyn in her fullness, filled with knowledge and wisdom: pregnant with life experiences.

The Ace in Your Life

It’s funny how one day you actually get that life can really be played like a game. I was sitting at the computer playing a game of “Free Cell” and I had to laugh at myself as I figured it out once again that the only way to win was to have a plan. Step one was to look at the whole board and find my starting point which was the Aces. Then I had to be able to create empty spaces where I could place runs (4, 3, 2, 1, etc) to move the cards around to reveal the Aces, two’s, three’s, etc. So I created this formula or plan around the game which allows me to win most of the time. But sometimes I get to the point where a message comes up and tells me there are no more available moves left and if I wish I can undo all my moves and start over or quit and play another game.

Now this is when the plan comes in handy, because if I have just haphazardly began making moves I never remember which move led me to a dead end. Now I have the choice to undo the whole game and play again or if I had a plan I simply go back to the move that brought me to the message and play with more awareness so I do not make the same wrong move. By more awareness, I mean keeping an eye on the board and making sure that every move I make leads to another move or an open space that acts like a door to new choices. Sometimes I walk away and focus my attention on other things before continuing and this gives me a fresher perspective. My other option is that I can choose to quit altogether and start a new game and a new plan.

This is what we do in life if we wish to be successful in reaching our dreams and desires, we create a plan. The trick is having a plan that works because sometimes we may eagerly start off but maybe we have not put the right intention into our plan. It could be that we have to unwind a little of our past in order to find the Ace, or the first step so everything falls into place. Unwinding our lives is not always easy as clicking a mouse or icon on the computer but it will give us the same opportunity to start over again and follow the plan which we may have to amend a bit to make it work. Unwinding is also a great way to open up new doors in our lives.

Sometimes we know deep inside what we need to do but have no idea how to make the first move. This is when we must open ourselves up to reaching out to someone who can give us the guidance we need to move forward. You never know what will happen once you open up, either you seek out help or Majikally someone or something appears with the answer to your request. Remember there are no coincidences so use these moments to jump into opportunities. Did I mention that I have a ninety-five percent winning average on playing just over five hundred games? (It’s my old computer from 2002) Now the challenge is to apply it to my life.

Majik - Letting Go of Labels

On numerous occasions, I have had people approach me and ask me to teach them how to do Majik. This appears to be such a simple request but so much is involved in it. I suggest books they can read and sometimes they are satisfied with this but recently someone explained to me that they just wanted to understand Majik and that left me stumped. He said that he was reading books on witchcraft and the basics of doing spells but he needed to understand what Majik is. For me, this was a challenge as I tried to think of someone to pass him on to while my “crew” (spirit guides and helpers) kept pushing on me to deal with it myself so here we are making an attempt to work together to explain. First and foremost I believe that in order to understand Majik you have to first expand your consciousness by letting go of your attachment to this three-dimensional reality.

The most Majikal experience in life is witnessing the first breath of a newborn babe. That first breath is that one second of innocence born into this existence. As we mature and gather knowledge we lose that innocence. Everything we know and believe to be true, we have been taught by our parents, caretakers, and/or mentors in this lifetime. From our very first breath we were labeled, “baby boy or girl” and then we were given our name(s), another label and these are labels that define who we are and what our potential roles will be in life. We came to know that when we were hungry we needed to eat food and all of that we learned from those around us. Everything thing we see, hear or touch we were told by someone else the label that applied to it, I mean everything. Science has its own approach as well as Religion and Metaphysics, but still, these are all based on opinions passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes theories are proven wrong and then we believe in the new story but we still make the choice what we will believe. Unfortunately, some of us tend to hold on tightly to what we believe and try to force our beliefs onto others. Majik is about letting go of what we think we know and learn how to be more intimate with the Universe and its natural laws.

The labels affecting us most are the ones we first acquired which are what sex we are, who we are and where we come from, sexism, racism, classism. When people see me one of the first questions I will be asked is where do I come from? Sometimes I just want to walk away but I can see in their eyes that it has some meaning to them so I engage in that conversation. What I really want to say is that it is not important, that we are all here now and we have made this our home because I am so far removed from where my grandparents originated from and they were torn from their original country because of slavery so this conversation is really mute. But I don’t want to be a drama queen so I engage in the conversation they expect from me but I know one day that well is going to open and someone is going to experience me ranting on about this (but in a gentle way).

That brings up another barrier to Majik; the need to be who and what we are expected to be. We have so conformed to the roles given us and try so hard to live up to them. Some of us are in fear of exploring other areas or speaking our minds about the simplest things in our lives. Religion is one area where people may become stuck and have a great fear of moving away from even though they really don’t approve of the beliefs of the institute that they have been raised to be a part of. This can also apply to relationships and the need to stay in a situation that may be volatile because of what you have chosen to believe. Remember these are always your choice, even though someone else may have impressed these beliefs upon you, you are choosing to hold on to them. Sometimes it’s a fear of moving out of our comfort zone or it may be the child mind that learned too well to believe that certain groups or individuals had the right to force their beliefs upon us. Also, we may believe that it is our responsibility to suffer over the choices we have made. Remember choices give you the opportunity to explore different experiences in life so you can learn. To grow we have to be willing to move on once we have learned our lesson or we may end up on the wrong end of a situation that does not serve us well. When you feel you have sorted yourself out on some level always think of what’s ahead of you of what the next step is because what is behind you was put there to position you to continue to move forward, like the step of a staircase and you have to keep moving upwards. Sometimes it may be just a thought that we have been ignoring but is connected to our deepest desire. Just taking the one step may open the way for more opportunities more aide, to open that door fully. This is when Majik happens when we surrender our fears and take that step.

For me, Majik occurs by letting go, and if you can read the aforementioned and begin to let go of any rigid belief that you are holding on to then you are taking the first step to understanding Majik. This is just the first in a series of articles I will be writing on Majik as I wish to give anyone interested time to process and maybe do the work on taking the first step. If you need help, ask for it, the Universe is there to serve you.

A Passion for Success

What thoughts will run through your mind when you contemplate the past year to yourself. How will you feel? Where will these memories take you? What was your biggest blessing? How have you affected others in your life for the past year?

How do these questions affect you as you read them? Do you feel as though you were taken on a ride over the past year or have you accomplished some preset goals that you made for yourself? We are what and who we think we are and we live what we believe. We may set goals to reach and sometimes they happen and sometimes sh_t happens. So how do we avoid the latter from happening?

It really is true that we live what we think. We may believe that we are putting forth the energy we need to manifest in our lives but when was the last time you stopped to listen to the nagging voice in the background of your mind? For instance, maybe you walk past a store and see something that you really like and have wanted for a while on sale. Your first instinct is to go in and buy it, but that little voice from nowhere starts in on you ”You can't afford it, It won't look good on you, you are too fat today. You don't really need it.” and so forth and so on. But then maybe its an opportunity that presents itself through an acquaintance when you least expect it to and the volume goes up on the background gibberish in your mind “I am not really prepared for this right now. He may think my idea is crazy. She probably does not want to be bothered right now. Self-sabotage is so common and the source is always our insecurities.

We can blame it on karma, the past, someone or something else but it's like a boomerang, it will always come back to you. First of all, have gratitude for what you have accomplished over the past year no matter how menial you may think it is. No matter how small it is the little things that matter and make a difference. We can pass these moments of insecurity off as little things but it may be these little things that are keeping us from accomplishing that one big thing that we have on our minds. If we have a passion for something, we must not allow these little thoughts that have stopped us before to get in the way. When we allow our passion to take over it creates a flow that allows us to move almost effortlessly to what we desire.

The only way to move past these little moments is to find a way to nip them in the bud at the source. You can only address them in the Now moment. Your insecurities are based on your Root chakra which is an energy disc located around the lower back between the hips. See this area as a comforting red color and breath into it. When you hear that nagging or feel the emotion that comes with it, change the feeling to a more uplifting or successful feeling and turn that thought around. The message you send in there is” I am worthy and I deserve this right now.” and use this message as a mantra to manifest all that you desire. Take your passions like a bull by the horns and direct them with the energy of success. Make this new year, a year of more success in your life.