14 Magical Thinking

How much easier it would be to let go of what is not working if we could imagine and perhaps catch a glimpse of another way  if we believed another way was possible.

This desire to create a better world is often met with derision, called utopian, and generally looked down upon as naive — in a form of "magical thinking.”

Somehow this impulse to believe that we can create something better is "naive.”

Meanwhile apocalyptic stories of the future fed to us through movies and TV offer a Hollywood lone hero who kills whatever threatens him or his family.  This ethos of kill or be killed and loyalty to the leader who can supposedly offer you the best protection is not treated as naive or unrealistic. These cynical stories assume that destruction of people and the planet is inevitable, that no one can be truly trusted, that humans will always return to some version of tribal warfare.

In these stories, we are told that we cannot trust ourselves to do better, but must look over our shoulders and anticipate the disaster that threatens to destroy us. 

I looked to the woo news because I was looking for stories that sparked my imagination about what else might be possible. I wanted stories that nurtured my imagination so I could feel, sense, see better possibilities. 

What makes this thinking  “magical” is the belief that our ideas, words and actions can change reality.

To cast a spell is to speak words aloud with intention to affect what exists in the world, and to make one’s wishes manifest.

“Magical thinking presumes a causal link between one's inner, personal experience and the external physical world.” (https://www.britannica.com/science/magical-thinking)

We often get lost in our stories and believe they are the only way things are or have ever been. 

But we also have the power to create better stories and to make these visions real. 

I needed to imagine I could create a better life for myself. Otherwise I’d recreate the life that I had before. 

 I needed to believe in magic.