What Makes a Magic List Magic?

Law of Attraction does not work as easily as it sounds.  Writing down specific, detailed lists of attributes, qualities, or measures of our ideal mate, job, or ______  (you fill in the blank) does not make the list magic.  The Universal Fairy does not necessarily grant our wish based on our listed thoughts alone.

Lining up our energy can and does confer power onto our list.  But "energy alignment" is one of those catch phrases that can sound trite after awhile.  How do we know if our energy is aligned?

Martha Beck, author, life coach, and regular columnist for "O" - the Oprah Magazine, explains in the Feb. '08 issue that the power of our magic lists depends upon the level of awareness from which we write the list.  She asks us to imagine our inner life as 3 concentric spheres.  The outermost ring she calls the "Shallows," the middle ring, the "Ring of Fire," and the inner ring, the "Center of Peace."

When we write our list from the Shallows, Martha Beck describes it as running from the things we dread and grasping onto things we desire, because we see ourselves as isolated and separate when we are in the Shallows.  For me the shallows indicates that I'm coming from a place of ego fear, disconnected from my heart.  Instead of attracting, we can end up repelling.  As Martha Beck puts it, magic lists written from the Shallows work like lead balloons.  If I think that acquiring an Infinity G35 coupe (insert your favorite) is going to make me a successful hot shot, I am going to be sorely disappointed.

The Core of Peace reflects our essence.  We already possess this, but lose awareness of it when we "obsess" with the Shallows. 
[Photo by Laura Nubuck]

As Martha elaborates, in the Core of Peace we let go of expecting other things or other people to make us happy.  That's why practices such as meditation, introspection, the exercise of kindness, and compassion, keep us closer to our Core of Peace.  Dreams and wishes articulated from the Shallows carry a calculated quality.  If someone perceptive listened to you she might detect a lack of authenticity, even if the list sounded logical.  On the other hand, dreams articulated from the Core of Peace carry a discernible energy that emanates from the entire being, even when the list/dream sounds impossible.

Where does the Ring of Fire come in?  It's the letting go process that speeds up manifestation.  Martha Beck isn't sure how or why it works, but notes in her own life, and in the lives of many she knows, that when we let go of things in the Shallows that what we desire in our heart shows up.

Martha Beck shares numerous stories to illustrate this.  I was taken in by the example from her own life.  She reviewed an old journal.  To her surprise, she noted that her wishes written out on her "logical lists" did not come true, but that virtually everything on the "impossible" lists had.  As example, after she wrote her first book, she discovered, in her words:

"I developed a strange longing to write short essays for smart, insightful readers - exactly what I am doing now.  I knew nothing about magazine publishing and didn't formulate my desire in terms of magazine writing.  But two days later, a New York editor substituting for an absent colleague literally stumbled over my manuscript in the colleague's office.  She read it, liked it, convinced the editor in chief of that publication to hire me . . .and later became editor in chief of this very publication [O Magazine]."

Martha explains that her writing self is part of her core of peace, and emerged from countless devastating rejections before selling her first book (her Ring of Fire).

I read this article described above two days AFTER I had an important strategizing session with my business partner.  We had dedicated this session to determine how to take our business to the next level.  So we created wish lists, articulated tools we needed to invest in, and mapped out a strategy of sorts to begin working on. 

Here is the strange part.  A couple of hours before our meeting I did some writing to coax out my intention for our meeting.  Staying close to my heart surfaced immediately.  I realized I needed to speak from a place of what was true for me, and to be honest.  I articulated this at the beginning of our meeting.  I found myself opening up in an expansive way, sharing with more boldness my vision.  I felt empowered to state what I needed from the business, and why. 

My intention to come from my heart, or core, coupled with insights from our third party facilitator, have created a big shift for me.  Immediately after the session, and in the days following, I feel a dam of pent-up energy released within me.  What used to feel insurmountable feels doable, and even, dare I say, almost effortless.

You can call it the Secret, Law of Attraction, coming from the Core of Peace, or staying connected to heart.  It all works essentially the same.  It's just nice to have variations to increase our understanding, and put the power, the magic, back in our lists.  You can read Martha's article online.

How have you put the magic in your magic lists?

Comments

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I'm always wondering why the universe keeps creating spheres in every creation, been a supernova, galaxy, planet, star, it is always a sphere, maybe we should pay attention to the sacred geometry that the ancient cultures use.