I have often heard of, sometimes revealed, and twice distinctly experienced, a magical phenomenon that I call “ripples”. Where the effects of a ritual or working still yet to be completed at a future date are felt in the present. The greater potential impact of the ritual or working, the sooner the ripples are felt. As time continues its pace to the time of the working, the rippling manifestations increase in effect and/or intensity.
On June 7th, I had an industry seminar to attend. When the seminar was first announced in late April, I looked it over and thought it a minor event. Surely it wasn’t important enough for me to abandon a crucial deadline day at work just to sit around and pretend we were having fun in the middle of the desert, right?
My boss told me to go. He made sure I had a free ticket for the meet-n-greet that followed. He mocked the “suggested attire” for the after seminar meet-n-greet even as he pointed out there was no requirement for me to wear a dress. However… yea… I had to go shopping.
It wasn’t until I was halfway through the meet-n-greet, framed by my boss and his second-in-command who were keeping tabs on me (and my since confessed social anxiety), in new clothes, actually enjoying myself, that not only were the key actions of the day perfectly matching at least four of the shoal sigil’s ten goals, but that all of the steps that made this moment possible were steps I not only normally would not have taken, but were completed long before I had any idea of what to even assemble for the shoal sigil in the first place!
As I reflected on that, I noted that even though I appeared to have been guided into making the choices that led up to this moment, I still had to not only make the choice, but to consciously and deliberately follow through that decision with action.
At any time, I could have decided not to attend and pass on the free ticket. I could have decided not to purchase new clothing for the event, and would have stood out in a very negative way during the meet-n-greet. I could have avoided the risk of ridicule I exposed myself to by sitting with my boss unprompted and explaining my anxiety in crowds along with my fear that I would make an ass of myself (and by extension, the company) due to my lack of social graces. I could have chosen to remain in the comfortable rut I was well acquainted with and not done a damn thing.
So how did I wind up in the middle of the desert, with a grilled hamburger in one hand and the business card of an important contact in the other, completely at ease with myself?
I stood in the rare moment of stillness and reflected on all the threads that led to this moment. Which came first, the magic that came from the decision, or the decision that was guided by magic?
“Hi! Excuse me, but you’re that lady from [workplace] who had [a particular situation] to deal with, right? I’m from [a different community] and I have something similar going on right now. I talked to [Boss] and he said this was your specialty in [workplace] and to ask you if you have the time.”
I looked past her to my boss standing a short distance away. He grinned and gave me a vigorous thumb’s up.
Make that five of the sigil’s goals touched on.
“I have time. Let’s go for a short walk so we don’t have to yell over the noise.”
Does it matter which came first, the magic or the decision? Not really. It matters how you follow through.
Keep going.
As I was typing this up on the morning of June 9, I took a break to scan my Twitter feed. You’ll never guess what was at the top of the timeline:
Something something magic something.