If your childhood was anything like my childhood, and even if it wasn’t, I’m sure you know what magic words are and what they do. You know, the words that make wishes come true. For some, those words were “please” and “thank you.” For others, those words were “yes” and “now.” For still others, the word was simply “abracadabra.” For you, it could’ve been something totally different. No matter the word, I want you to think of it. I want you to try to think of the moment or situation that introduced you to the power of those magic words. Hold onto that memory as we venture onward.
I’m going to ramble a bit to give our friends who need more time finding that moment. I get it. It was hard for me, too. That’s why I’m writing this. So, anyway. Listen. I was taught that please and thank you were magic. That those were the words you said when you meant business about getting what you wanted and needed. Thing is, the magic in the words was hit and miss. Literally. If I said them, I didn’t get hit and I might still miss getting said thing. If I didn’t say them, I would get hit and definitely might still miss getting said thing. Things could interfere with the magic is what I’m saying. I had to consider my tone, my face, whether I deserved the thing, cost versus worth, nonverbal cues, the temperature, the season, the day of the week, and more. I constantly found myself questioning the strength of the magic in those words. As I consider it now, I’m inclined to believe the magic words I was taught are the cheapest in the arsenal and I need some with a lil more umph.
If you’ve gotten here, I’m hoping you definitely have the magic words you were taught and when you realized their power. I’m also hoping that you have wondered, at some point or another, whether there were words with even more magic than the ones your childhood implanted.
For good bit of time, I thought cuss words were more magical than please and thanks. Wild, I know. But they had the spice I’d been missing. They were bold and colorful and stood out from the crowd. They were the kids who knew the rules and did what they wanted anyway. I wanted to know what that felt like. So I spun up spell after spell, each brewed with its own base of eau de crass-cuss til I wore each word down to standard circle-to-peg fittings. The power remains, but only with the most skilled among us. The magic only works with what’s already there. Nothing more. Not like before.
For years after, I’d try different words each season, hoping to stumble into the most magical words by sheer luck. Over and again, I’d pore over memories of manifestation. It was like watching tape, tweaking my game with every revelation. When I exhausted my own life’s lessons, I looked to those closest to me. There, in the many moments with my mother, I found the most magical words. My search had ended. I found pattern after pattern where, once the magic words were uttered, wills bent toward her. The arc of justice refused interference. These were the sacred ones all along. Right on the tip of her tongue—these very words that went in one ear and out the other, just as she forecasted. How had I discounted them all these years?! I know I will need to work with them to wield full power, but I have an excellent model. The next time I say those magic words “because I said so,” the impossible will be possible. Mountains will be moved. Wills will bend to me. Just because I said they would.
bloom + flow 
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