Early this week I stumbled upon a post on the internet that sparked the inspiration for this here blog. I wish I could recall the creator’s name, or find his original post because I would link it here for you all to see. Basically the premise of the video was a shot of a river where the water slowly rippled & was catching the sunlight under a low hanging branch. The creator then came in with a voice over & asked the observer what they would do if they were asked to describe water to someone who had never seen it before. He then asked you to imagine a world in which you had never seen water before & had happened upon the scene playing as the focal point of the video. The video then zooms into the water, omitting the branch entirely from the frame, & you watch the rays shift & cascade off the murky water in almost a globing, morph-like way. He then describes what is being presented as being akin to almost the most revered of abstract art & it does look a great deal like a kinetic piece that you’d find in a gallery somewhere. He then ends with a quote that I can’t seem to remember for the life of me. The gist of it was that we become so accustomed to magic in our every day lives that it becomes mundane.

Now, again, sorry to have to paraphrase this man’s excellently made social post that clearly stirred something within me. I have no idea why I didn’t even ‘like’ it on whichever social platform I happened upon it through. Sorry to this man. I also apologize to you as the audience for having to experience such a wondrous reminder through the second-hand lens of my memory & the cliff notes it has chosen to retain. I hope, at the very least, that you understand the sentiment & feel along with me on this path forward through this blog.

The reason this struck a chord with me actually relates to my last blog about being burnt out by all the chaos & noise & the bad in the world. When it is the constant it is hard for it not to become your only reality when in actual factual reality nothing is black or white. Nothing is all bad just as nothing is all good. In fact I think most would argue that the spectrum of good & evil morally lives on a bell curve flush with shades of grey. It is, however, hard to see over the hill of the curve back to the good side when you have become saturated in the darkness for too long.

We have to save space for wonder to surprise us in our every day lives. We have to find those moments where we look to the sun reflecting on the water & really marvel at it. Stand in awe of the mathematics, the physics, the chance, the splendor, the small moment that has no measurable impact on the world as far as we know, but still is & exists as a side effect or a happenstance but does so with remarkable beauty.

It doesn’t have to be dappled water either, it can be a beautiful fruit or the complex spiraling of a flower. It can be the sound of rain on a window & the lull it induces existing with no regard for you or it’s affect on you, but happening regardless. It doesn’t even necessarily have to be nature, it can just be noticing something funny & cute & human…which of course is also nature. It can be the center ring on a record that exists so that the disk can continue to spin in perpetuity without playing anything specific to help preserve the disk & the needle. The fact that a single groove in the vinyl leads through someone’s creation to a point of infinite repetition. Something intentional that someone at some point had to decide was important enough to include on every single vinyl press. I want you to look for the mystical, the magical, the mundane.

But Charlie why? Why, you might be asking. Because even on the days where the sky is blackened over & the rain screams sideways through the trees there is awe to be felt. There is life to be experienced. The chaos that bears down destruction & ricochets uncertainty all around also brings with it renewal, change, perspective & these too are beautiful, wonderful, necessary parts of what it is to be alive.

Listen, I know the world is shit right now. The planet is warming & no one seems to want to do anything to stop it, restrictions on poisons in food, water, air, earth are all being lifted, it’s literally raining oil in parts of the world. But if that’s the only reality, if that’s the only view that you can see then where do we go from here? Which way is up when all you see is the endless abyss below extending farther & farther the more you plummet? There has to be some speck of light to reach for, some flicker in the dark of hope that makes enough of us scream out “NO!” & claw out way back towards a future we all know is possible & that would benefit all of us, not just those who cling to greed & monetary wealth that none of us could possibly spend in a thousand life times. We have to be the many who demand a brighter tomorrow & stop letting the few who do their best to bring about our end make the calls. We do that by keeping the hope alive. We do that by finding magic, gratitude, hope, love, wonder, mystery, marvel in the every day!

As Always, Much Love To You All,

-C

If you’re a follower of mine on my Instagram, today’s blog posting will not be entirely foreign to you. I posted the tiniest anecdote around the roots of this story on my story posts a few days ago & got incredible feedback simply regarding the short paragraph that I had written. So, naturally I though that I should expand upon it in this longer form setting.

Towards the turn of the year I had a TikTok creator, of whom I should give credit for this idea if their name hadn’t been alluding me for the last few weeks, come across my daily doom scroll. She works specifically in a spiritualist setting but has had a lot of clients talk about their manifestations & how they have trouble believing that the things they want are coming their way when they live in a state of lack. She went on to explain that it, to her, an impossibility to manifest from a mindset of lack & offered a quick tip on how to escape that cumbersome feeling. Her method was altogether simple & has, over the last week & some change, become a staple in my day to day thought process.

Her suggestion for escaping scarcity mindsets was incremental. She said that every day, at the end of her day, she writes down three things that happened that were little abundances. This teaches the brain to look out for things to be thankful for & recognize that even when things don’t seem to be going your way, there are always little things to latch onto that will shine even the slightest bit of light on darker situations. So what are little abundances? What does that look like in the mundane day to day?

A little abundance is simply something that went your way in the tiniest of ways, let’s come up with some examples shall we?

Maybe there was a 10% discount on something you needed from the grocer.

Maybe your fragrance of choice or someone else’s hit the olfactory just right & made you smile.

Maybe you woke up without feeling achy or sore.

Maybe you wore an outfit that made you feel alluring or sexy.

Maybe you made it through the day with less anxiety or depression than the day prior.

Maybe you came across a post that made you think of an old friend or helped you to learn something interesting you hadn’t known before.

Maybe you simply enjoyed being in someone’s presence.

Maybe the perfect stone caught your eye as you were walking & you gained a new pocket companion.

Maybe your pet showed you affection & love.

Maybe someone in your family or friend group did.

Maybe that last quarter mile of your run felt a little easier than normal.

Maybe you found time to read a book or watch a show or movie that makes you feel something.

Maybe you had a good hair day.

Maybe you noticed a new grey hair (again is a gift after all).

Maybe you felt a sense of wanderlust walking through nature.

Maybe you got in your car & it was the perfect temperature or the perfect song was playing.

Maybe all of the machines or weights at the gym were open when you needed them.

Maybe you enjoyed a cup of your favorite tea or coffee.

Maybe an animal graced you with its presence outside.

Maybe you found a $20 note in your coat pocket.

Maybe you finally beat that level in that game you’ve been playing.

Maybe you brightened someone else’s day.

Is this starting to make sense to you? There is no limit to how “small” these little abundances can be. The point is to start recognizing them as God, The Universe, Nature, whatever you believe in sets them in your path, accepting them, & being grateful for their enrichment of your life. You cannot expect to embrace & love the unknown that is life if you aren’t willing to, as the saying goes, stop & smell the roses.

Now my method of this looks a little different. I knew that if it came down to be writing out my little abundances list every night I wouldn’t do it, I’d forget to or view it as a chore. So my list is mental & isn’t restricted to the time in which I lay my head to rest at night, nor is it limited to three items.

I count my abundances as the day rolls on, why this works for me, I don’t know. How it ends up not being forgotten, again, don’t know, but thus far, every day throughout my day, I am reminded from something within to find my little abundances that I’ve experienced thus far & look on them with love, gratitude, & admiration. On my list today: I had a package arrive that I wasn’t expecting until next week, I woke up several times in the night to Max, on of our cats, snuggled into me purring loudly, I had enough time to complete all of the tasks I needed to get done today, I had a humorous dream last night, my dogs listened when they got in a tiff while playing & I didn’t have to break up a fight, I had ample leftovers in my fridge & didn’t have to cook in a day where my time was scarce, I was notified of a refill order for one of my scripts that now I don’t have to call my doctor to get filled, I lit & dispelled some Palo Santo, one of my favorite, most comforting scents, I noticed a few of my plants have new leaves despite it being winter & not a time for usual growth, I woke up today but did so feeling energized, well, & taken care of, my Irish Breakfast Tea that I’m sipping while writing this is brewed perfectly, I got a good picture of Harvey, my rapidly aging Golden, of whom I don’t know how many more pictures I’ll have the privilege of taking.

Your life is rich my dear readers, you just have to look for it. That’s not discounting your problems, your ailments, your struggles, but the beauty in life is found in the little things, in the little abundances that show us that somewhere out there something, someone, is on our side & that this beautifully tragic, lonely, simply complex life is worth living day by day.

I’d love if you all would adopt this philosophy as well or at the very least give the abundance lists a try. Do it in your own way, make it your own, however that looks. Talk about it openly & honestly, let people in to celebrate with you your tiny victories.

I hope this post hasn’t been too flowery for some of you, I know we’re all on different levels of our life journey & have different degrees of happiness, privilege, health, & prosperity. Just know this comes from a place of love & gratitude for all of you who take the time to read my thoughts each week. You all make my little abundances list every week!

As always, much love to you all,

-C