54: Finding Magic in the Mundane
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In this episode Phi takes you through the alchemy and transformative art of discovering magic in the mundane. She shares personal stories, insights, and practical tips for embracing the enchantment hidden within the everyday. It’s what makes the ordinary, extraordinary. The familiar fresh. To see the beauty and be mindful in your life.
What is discussed: Finding the Magic in the Mundane
- Practical tips and strategies to cultivate and discover the magic in the mundane, the extraordinary in the ordinary.
- Things become extraordinary when we give them our full attention. Paying attention with purpose, the things we can take for granted.
- Simple meditations you can do in everyday life moments to bring out more magic.
- Different approaches and perspectives to unlocking the magic within yourself and the world around you.
- The secrets to what actually makes up the magic in our lives that can easily be missed or forgotten…
Finding the Magic in the Mundane Episode Transcript
Hello beautiful soul!
Today’s episode is all about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary – making the mundane magical. It was inspired by recently having attended a few tea ceremonies. I had one of those ‘aha’ moments because for me usually tea is made in a rush whether it’s in between meetings and in a way can be mindless and automated. Boil the kettle. Get the cup. Put the tea bag in. Pour in water. Even times I forget about the tea in the first place or I’ve left it too long. I’m not really thinking deeply about the tea you know? It’s just tea, or so I thought.
The Magic of Tea Ceremonies
This is in contrast to attending a 45 minute ceremony with tea being the heart of it. It was an art. Every step was conscious, deliberate from the choice of tea to boiling the water. The environment set up to be serene, calming: beautiful bowls, traditional tea utensils, calming music.
A tea ceremony involves a choreographed set of movements, precise measurements of tea level and water ratio, and a deep appreciation for the process it takes to make tea. Tea went from a simple drink to a profound meditative experience. It was sensuous: watching it unfold, tasting the tea and the different layers of flavour, the aroma of the tea, the warmth that comes from holding the cup, the temperature as the tea hits your tongue, feeling the steam billowing in your face, hearing the sounds around.
The slow, deliberate pace of a tea ceremony was a stark difference to the fast-paced nature of our daily lives. In the mundane, I saw and felt magic. It’s the concept of elevating the everyday into something sacred, something meaningful. In my example it was tea but can you imagine this approach to your morning workout or even making breakfast?
An attitude of Awe
Have you ever noticed how the simple, everyday moments have a way of slipping through the cracks of our attention? We’re often so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we forget to see the beauty that surrounds us even in the ordinary. Even the simplest of things. Like it’s pretty amazing that with a click of a button you can create fire or turn on light!
Things become extraordinary when we give them our full attention. Pay attention with purpose, the things we can take for granted. Recently at my partner’s place there was a blackout and we were in total darkness – it was strange, we were so used to electricity. It really took the absence of it for us to notice. Electricity is the norm and expected. What about sunrises and sunsets? Just because I know the sun will rise and go down again, does that make it any less of a miracle? As W.B Yeats says, “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
Savouring the Magic in the Mundane
What about the idea of savouring something? I really think that about food, gosh if I’m eating something delicious I have the instinct to devour it. I want to gobble it all down, I want more more more that I suddenly am no longer in it and before you know it, it’s all gone. Making it a meditation in savouring. Being mindful and conscious of eating. Setting an intention of gratitude to all the energy, time and effort in the ingredients of my meal: what went in to grow, harvest and prepare it. Taking small bites. Chewing. Pausing in between bites.
Child like Wonder and Magic
It’s approaching the world like a child again. Nothing is overlooked. Everything is exciting, captivating. I love the innocence of children, like realising my nephew who just turned one didn’t love the expensive gifts and toys but got so much out of even the box it came in or a simple sensory caterpillar toy. Children have boundless enthusiasm because everything becomes fascinating, as they find joy in the simplest of things—their reflection in the mirror, a fluttering butterfly or seeing animals in the form of clouds. They remind us that magic isn’t just in fairytales or movies, it’s through a lens in which we choose to see the world.
Inspired by children, cultivating curiosity can unlock a sense of wonder and magic in the mundane. The wonders of the familiar. They ask questions. They don’t assume. It’s the realisation that every seemingly routine, boring details can hold a universe of intrigue and beauty, inviting us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, and to find enchantment in the most unassuming parts of our daily lives. Can we invite ourselves to be more creative, to let our imaginations take over even if just for a moment. It’s what turns a normally tedious and boring wait in line into something magical. Allow your thoughts to roam. Give them free rein and see where they take you. Can you be transported into the magic from the mundane whether it’s listening to music, engrossed in a book you can’t put down or allowing yourself to be fully immersed in a movie? With this time ceases to exist. We become fully present.
Play unlocks the Magic in the Mundane
Play is something else that brings magic into our lives. A theme I’ve noticed in client sessions as of late is taking life very seriously and being constricted by serious things: we know, got to work for money, got to clean the house, got to make dinner and all of that but even for a few minutes in a day can you be silly? Can you have a laugh?
Can you embrace more of the unknown and unexpected? Changing things up may lead to an adventure or a chance meeting. Something insignificant could have a lot of significance for example you going to get the groceries, yeah boring but maybe you’ll have a chance meeting with someone you’ll fall in love with or become best friends with, maybe you’ll run into someone you haven’t seen in years. If it’s not happening to you maybe you’ll be privileged to witness it! A random act of kindness such as paying it forward. Who knows! Anything could happen if you’re open to it. I mean think of synchronicities, signs, and even angel numbers! Magic. How can you not believe in magic, miracles and manifestations with things that are beyond ‘coincidence’ indeed the magic of energy and intuition.
Play unlocks the Magic in the Mundane
Part of breaking the mundane makes it magical and this is fresh hot off when my partner and I had the day off. Life’s been busy, it’s that chaotic end of year and personally I’ve been really tired. On my day off if I had it my way was to take it really easy, relax and sleep in — that’s what I’ve been doing as of late. My boyfriend surprised me by waking us up at 3:30am for an adventure. My mind was going oh I just want to sleep, do we have to? My mind racing with thoughts and responsibilities: I had also planned to record this podcast earlier but I hadn’t got around to it because it’s been a full week of clients.
We would end up having an epic full day from sunrise to sunset which he fully planned and executed: doing a hike up the coast to see the sun rise, spending the day at the beach which included my favourite ocean swims and I did manage to get a nap in, he did a bbq at the beach and finishing the day with a refreshing drink at a beautiful venue. When I first got up a part of me was like ehhhh do I really want to do this? The mundane was doing the ordinary and I guess that part of me that wanted to do the ‘responsible’ thing to catch up on sleep and do the podcast but the magic happened by embracing a different day which when I think about it is everything I wanted in a relationship so I had to get out of my own way to let the magic happen!
So on that break routines, if it’s not physically is through the mind. It’s challenging ourselves to see something with familiar eyes with a fresh set. Perhaps challenging ourselves to see it from a different perspective or an unfamiliar way. Roald Dahl’s quote sums it up nicely; “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
Being interconnected is magical
What about the magic of being interconnected, belonging to something bigger, it’s that same feeling when you look up at the stars and almost feel so small and big at the same time. We are connected to Mother Earth. We are connected to the sea. We are connected to the trees. We are connected to each other, to animals, to life force itself. “There’s a flame of magic inside every stone & every flower, every bird that sings & every frog that croaks. There’s magic in the trees & the hills & the river & the rocks, in the sea & the stars & the wind, a deep, wild magic that’s as old as the world itself. It’s in you too, my darling girl, and in me, and in every living creature, be it ever so small. Even the dirt I’m sweeping up now is stardust. In fact, all of us are made from the stuff of stars.” – Kate Forsyth
The most magical of all? Love
In that same vein love is magical. When we are filled from it within and extend it out, there’s a radiance to it, a light, a glow. I mean it always somehow comes back to love doesn’t it? Love is the essence of magic. Love is connection, Love is a lens in which to see this world. It’s your love that elevates an experience. Something as simple as holding hands is magic. Looking into someone’s eyes is magic. Feeling this profound sense of love for someone is magic. Love cannot be explained. Love is not logical. Love is magic because it transforms. Love is of it’s own kind, it’s own mystery, it’s own magic. Is it not magic simply the fact that we exist? That we have consciousness and the capacity to be aware of this all and to take it in?
That concludes today episodes beautiful souls, I hope that what you take away from this is that there’s magic in the simplest and smallest of things. You are surrounded by magic even in the mundane. Can you keep the magic alive or at least find it in one moment of your day, everyday for the rest of your life? How beautiful that would be… until next time beautiful soul.