Ten Things I’ve Learnt

It’s been six (and a bit but who’s counting) months since I pressed publish on my first Mystical Thinking blog post and since then I’ve had quite the adventure. It went something like this…

January – Ate all the green stuff, drank all the alcohol-free stuff, made a vision board for 2018 with my two junior sidekicks, ordered a gazillion books on how to be a better human, started a new yoga class, had a fleeting epiphany on the school run where I decided the sky looked better than it ever had before. Put it down to wine withdrawal.

February – Three family birthdays in three weeks = plot lost. Finally emerged from under a pile of unicorn balloons to bathe in crystal sound (with Howard Donald from Take That – as you do), see a life coach and embrace the best snow day ever.

March – Met my spirit animal, read a lot of tarot cards, bought a moonstone, read The Universe Has Your Back, looked for rainbow signs, tried to put new zen outlook on life into practice on a red run in Morzine. Failed.

April – Joined a new moon ritual, read a lot of tarot cards, tried to be less judgmental, bought more crystals, wondered if the Easter holidays would ever end. Booked a flight to hippie mecca Byron Bay for October. Work overload. Multitasking mayhem.  Nine-year-old announced she’d met all three of her spirit animals (a mole, a unicorn and a turtle) doing a shamanic journey on YouTube. Erm, brilliant…slash… might need to up holiday screen-time supervision a touch.

May – Committed to a month of meditation (post to come). Got so into it I had to rein myself in when I realised I was just picking the longest ones I could find (AKA the lengthiest lie-downs). Checked out Getahead mental health and wellbeing festival. Did an intense group coaching session. Ordered another gazillion books on how to be a better human. Did an oracle card activation ceremony while simultaneously cooking fish fingers. Took a lot of ritual baths (AKA another great excuse for a lie down). Saged everything.

June – Made a big decision. Saged everything again. Added some palo santo for good measure. Delved deeper into my astrological chart. Made a list of my favourite mystical jewellery designers. Wondered where the time’s gone. So many ‘posts to come’.

July – Had an amazing reiki treatment (post to come on that), did an intuitive crystal reading (another post to come), stepped up to household gardening duties just in time for the harvesting glory. Packed for a month in Greece… leaving tomorrow… watch this space…

SO WHAT HAVE I ACTUALLY LEARNT…

1. That yoga is the answer to nearly everything. Aching muscles…whirring mind…life moving Ferris Buller fast and afraid you might miss it…? An hour on the mat – no matter how much you think you don’t have time, can’t be arsed or don’t have the energy – is always an hour well spent. And completely transformative. In fact, my To Do List for upping my mystical game post summer holidays is basically just DO EVEN MORE YOGA.
2. That the power of the mind is infinite. Positive thinking, mindfulness, the power of marginal gains, the law of attraction, visualisation, meditation, CBT… we all hear these words but until you really try getting in touch with the outer recesses of your consciousness you’ll never really quite know what a resource you’ve got going on there. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again… you might have had some trippy experiences in life but until you’ve met a talking elephant on a yoga mat you really haven’t seen it all.
3. Mystical thinking is more fun than sitting at home watching Netflix. See talking elephants, crystal sound baths, guided meditations and incense-scented reiki sheds in the Kent countryside. Time spent in the real world exploring the mystical world is mind expanding in the most entertaining way.
4. There’s nowt so queer as folk. As we say back home in Yorkshire… and the mystically minded folk I’ve met so far this year have been some of the most interesting, inspiring and hilarious people I’ve ever met. I mean, seriously… the stories I’ve heard since January… This has been six months of new connections for me and I’m all the happier for it. Yep… those real world connections (even if some of them are made online) are definitely worth their weight in supercharged citrine.
5. Perfection is overrated. I knew that already. You know that already. But some of us are hardwired to be hard on ourselves, right? Some of the qualities that serve me well as a writer and a journalist definitely don’t serve me well as a person… so I’m learning to let that shit go. There’s no such thing as a perfect life or a perfect body or the perfect time to follow your dreams… there is only right now. Obvious but easily forgotten among the chaos of life and kids and loading the dishwasher for the four millionth time.
6. Children are the ultimate mystics. I wrote about this for Chic Little List here but one of the biggest surprises has been how much my daughters have embraced this project. They’re nine and seven so fairies, unicorns and birthday wishes are as real to them as homework and compulsory broccoli. Natural believers! And mystical thinking has proved a great tool for helping them cope with some of the worries common to this stage of childhood – school work stresses, friendship issues, building confidence and self belief. I don’t know why I didn’t pack them off to school with crystals in their pockets sooner.
7. Love is all you need. The Beatles were right all along. If you feel shortchanged by life, wronged by someone or stuck in the middle of a tricky situation… respond with love and everything instantly feels better. It works with family arguments, warring siblings, annoying supermarket queues, and, well, everything. Trust me.
8. Let it go. Learning to trust my intuition again has been a big one for me. I’ve always felt like I know things about people they haven’t told me… or that I understand their intentions in a way I shouldn’t be able to… or sometimes just that I am taking on their energy (positive or negative) in a way that feels awkward or intense. Sometimes the vibe just isn’t right. Sometimes no matter how much you care about someone or something, you’re just in different places. Sometimes it’s ok to let a person or a situation go. It might come back to you further down the line. It might not. And if it helps to believe the universe has a plan… I say go with it.
9. That it’s ok to be a bit cynical. One of my straplines is #spiritualismforcynics so I’ve made a point of trying to see the mystical world through the eyes of those less open to sitting in a circle chanting than me. Actually I’m not that open to sitting in circles and chanting if I’m honest. I’ve been at it six months and I’m definitely more open-minded than I was at the start but I still struggle with a lot of things other – better ?! It’s not a competition Emma – inner peace seekers are happy to embrace. It’s all part of the process right? I am just a massive over thinker. But that’s what makes me able to write about this stuff…Someone told me the other day not to forget how much value there is in being a bridge between two worlds. I’m going with it.
10. No matter how much of a zen master, non judgmental beacon of inner peace you become, some people will still think you’re crazy. AKA my husband. Though he did come out to the garden brandishing a sage stick the day I gave up my magazine job. And on that note… which means ALOT more time for Mystical Thinking… I better press publish on this and book a taxi to Gatwick. A month by the sea is just what the (witch) doctor ordered for this peace-seeking Piscean.