Where are you right now? Close your eyes and describe where you feel you are. Are you in a Field of Dreams, where you’re planting the seeds of your intention and are eager to see the results? Are you lost in a dry desert, where abundance eludes you? Are you wandering through the Valley of Loss?
This inner landscape may bear no resemblance to where you actually are located in time and space. You could be sitting in a sunny room, looking out at a beautiful harbor, but feel stuck in an unforgiving and harsh land that exists inside you. What you believe has a great influence on where you find yourself when you look within.
Do you believe that there could be more to life than you’ve come to expect, or are you filled with doubt because you don’t know how to begin creating something better? Perhaps you think you’re doing everything you can, but the results aren’t what you hoped for; or you look around at the problems you see others facing and feel helpless to make their lives less stressful or painful.
Do you long for fulfillment, meaning—even magic?
My guess is that you’re willing to work hard and do all the right things to get where you’d like to go: that glittering spot on the map that beckons with promises of sanctuary, abundance, harmony, and serenity. However, a quick look at the path that brought you to this point will remind you that the journey is never as predictable or controllable as you’d like it to be. We could all use a little magic, couldn’t we?
When I speak of magic, I don’t mean the stuff of trickery, illusion, or manipulation that you see in a “magic show.” The kind I’m referring to is the living evidence of the intelligent and dynamic mysterious essence from which all substance is created, shaped, and created again. The magic in this book is revealed to you through your very own capacity to perceive it and by your willingness to work with your imagination and with Spirit.
This magical energy has always been, is now, and forever will be. You can’t understand it intellectually or analyze it logically, yet you can know it deeply at the level of heart and soul, through your intuition. This magic is creative and life bearing. It isn’t something you can control, yet you can align with it and even swim beside it the way dolphins will mimic your movements as they follow alongside you in the ocean. If you’re willing to enter into a partnership with Spirit and allow your imagination to be ignited and inspired, you’ll be amazed by the results. You’ll find your own personal connection to magic by stepping out of linear, left-brain thought, and entering the creative domain of intuition and imagination.
Why a metaphorical “map”? Symbolic language allows you to access the layers of experience that are stored in your subconscious mind and are often hidden from your everyday awareness. These are the beliefs and thoughts that determine what you’re attracted to and what you manifest in your life. You decipher metaphors through your intuition, for it’s the soul and not the mind that can comprehend their more accurate multilayered meaning. Metaphoric language allows you to move beyond the surface of things and enter a deeper reality.
Inside all of us are psychological landscapes created by our feelings and thoughts—the Storm Fields we inhabit when we feel like we’re under attack, or the Sticky Swamp we become mired in when we’re overwhelmed by our obligations.
If I ask, “Where are you?” you might instinctively respond, “Lost!” or “Trapped at the bottom of a deep pit,” “Stuck in the mud, and overwhelmed in quicksand,” or “Wandering through a barren no-man’s-land.” These images are far more powerful in describing the intensity and profundity of your experience than a mere list of your life’s circumstances.
Once awakened to your inner landscape, you’ll be able to consciously shape your world by altering that landscape within, rather than focusing on your external reality. Having caused the dark clouds within to depart, you’ll discover that your inner sense of safety and calm are now mirrored in your outer circumstances. You also start to see the events in your life as part of a larger picture. This is when you find the real magic and meaning in the story of your life—and the bravery, strength, and wisdom to make empowered choices.
The above excerpt is taken from the book The Map: Finding the Magic and Meaning in the Story of Your Life by Colette Baron-Reid. It is published by Hay House (January 2011) and is available at all bookstores or online at: www.hayhouse.com.
