I Do My Magic

I unfolded my heart today and what I found there was courage.

Art by Me.

It takes courage to go after my dreams.

I’m not like everyone else around here. I’m the secret witch on the edge of the village, bubbling up potions with my tools of choice, in my case a canvas and a laptop.

With varying results - sometimes the experiment exceeds expectations, more often than not I find myself creating nothing more than a feeble pop and a wisp of smoke that goes unnoticed instead of the mighty BANG I was hoping for.

I know many entrepreneurs who’ve had a whole 2024 like that.

Other women I know have ‘real jobs’ where they get paid the same amount day in day out regardless of whether they are feeling ‘meh’ or totally enthusiastic about their work.

They have a daily routine, they eat breakfast at the same time every day, they finish work each day, they already have next year’s holiday booked to fit with school holidays and they have a pension and other such sensible things to look forward to.

Not so me, whose life and work are so inter-mingled they have become one.

I am the women for whom my ability to generate income appears related to my level of inspiration on any given day.

And given that I do not control the breath of God (the definition of inspiration that most resonates with me), it does take a certain amount of faith to know that the resources will arrive to support my dreams, my life and my family.

Especially when I’m uninspired. Especially if I have had a few muted pops and wisps of smoke recently.

I am amongst the courageous ones, the risk-takers, the renegades, the believers.

We show up day after day at the places we work; our desks, our zoom screens, our meetings, our easels, the income we desire dangled: a mirage in our minds just a few weeks/ months/years ahead.

We are working for the future, the day when the ‘dream income’ arrives.

I have spoken with thousands of entrepreneurs and only met one who declared herself ‘arrived and happy to stay here’.

“That is not normal”, I thought, happy for her but she is the exception to the rule.

That’s because I am creative, as are all of us for whom money has to spring from the ends of our fingertips.

I start with nothing, I do my magic, and money comes into my bank accounts.

Sometimes.

Alchemy.

Creating is the elixir of life; who amongst us wishes to proclaim: “I have created and now I am done”?

Yes, with every smaller part of the whole: every painting, every book, every article.

But only so I can start the next piece anew. Until my dying breath, I suspect.

Forget the income.

“I do my magic” is the point of it all.