This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my Disclosure Policy for details.
Recently I watched a couple of episodes of the Netflix series, Grace and Frankie. Frankie, played by Lily Tomlin, makes me laugh, partly because she reminds me…of me! She dresses in a distinctly boho style, meditates, smudges her home with sage, and most of the time she chooses to see the best in people and situations. Frankie, like me, practices seeing through enchantment.
Correcting My Vision
Frankie’s friend and housemate, Grace, portrayed by Jane Fonda, is both charmed and exasperated by Frankie and her optimistic, eccentric views of the world.
I get that often too! My positive outlook baffles some. Others are inspired or encouraged by the way I choose to experience life. And some…well some find it all annoying.
That’s okay. I live the way I want to live, and I am well past the point of worrying about what others think.
This wasn’t always true, however. I spent most of my life living in fear…of the world, of what others think, of what the future held. As a result the world appeared dark and ominous, full of unpredictable events and fearful occurrences.
I needed to correct my vision.
As a child I received a diagnosis of nearsightedness, with astigmatism. Bringing my eyesight back to 20/20 required corrective lenses. As an adult, approaching my middle years, I realized I need to correct my vision yet again. This correction required an inner adjustment.
Seeing Through Enchantment
As my inner work banished fear and brought light and joy into my heart and soul, an amazing thing happened. My outer world shifted to match my inner one. Figuratively, energetically, I put on spectacles shaded not just with a rosy tint, but with enchantment.
Enchantment allows me to see life with greater clarity and in brilliant details that color everything within sight. It invites me into a world of unknown mysteries, free from shrouds of fear and darkness.
Seeing through enchantment reveals the presence of the Divine and a way of life that is ruled by trust and playfulness rather than reason. I see through enchantment most clearly, most brilliantly, when I am in nature, or listening to music, spending time alone or in the company of children.
Enchanted Forest Coloring Book, by Johanna Basford. Click photo to order.
Enchanted Forest
Thinking about writing this post, I considered options for graphics. As usually happens, I received a mental image of what I wanted for the title meme: a pair of glasses, through which the world appears bright, colorful and magical. I knew I could Google and find an image that would work. Or…I could create my own graphic.
I chose to create my own work of art, using one of my coloring books and various colored pencils. The first coloring book I saw, as I walked into my creative studio, was Johanna Basford’s Enchanted Forest.
How perfect is that?
I drew a pair of Harry Potter style glasses in the middle of a page depicting an enchanted castle. For most of the picture, I kept the colors soft and muted, symbolizing life as I once knew it. Within the lenses of the glasses, the colors are bright, vivid and layered, symbolizing seeing through enchantment.
That’s an accurate portrayal of how I see life, with my vision corrected. The world is beautifully brilliant and alive with color and textures and layers of meaning. I’m quite pleased with the finished page, colored with a mix of Crayola and Prismacolor pencils.
Enchantment’s Invitation
Enchantment has much more to teach me about life and my journey. Hence, the invitation this year to remain wide open and explore the deeper mysteries of the world, leaving the rational part of my brain behind. There are different perceptions to discover and unexplored paths to trek down, new sights to see and fresh insights to gather.
French poet Paul Eluad wrote:
“There is another world, but it is in this one.”
Oh yes, it is there, this other world, hidden in plain sight. One only needs the eyes to see it. Let me just put on my enchanted glasses.
Cindy Goes Beyond is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, all at no extra costs to you.