Maybe the Magic Wasn’t the Plan
At the beginning of this summer, I decided I wanted to create a magical summer.
Not because I had some elaborate bucket list or grand plan.
I just didn’t want to get to the end of summer and wonder where it went.
I wanted to be intentional about enjoying it. About noticing it. About creating experiences and memories instead of simply moving from one day to the next.
And somewhere along the way, something unexpected happened.
A bird moved into my garage.
Now, if you know me well, you know this is not something I would typically describe as magical. Birds kind of freak me out. 😂
But there she was.
She built a nest. Then there were eggs. Then baby birds.
And before I knew it, I was checking on them. Watching the parents come and go. Waiting for the eggs to hatch. Rooting for these tiny little creatures that had somehow made my garage their home.
Something I probably would have once seen only as an inconvenience became one of the sweetest little stories of my summer.
And I’ve been thinking about that.
Maybe creating a life we love isn’t always about creating more.
Maybe sometimes it’s about becoming better at noticing what’s already here.
The moments we almost rush past.
The people we take for granted.
The progress we haven’t stopped long enough to acknowledge.
The ordinary Tuesday night that turns out to be really, really good.
The bird that decides your garage is apparently prime real estate. 😉
We spend so much of our lives looking toward what’s next.
The next goal.
The next milestone.
The next trip.
The next version of ourselves.
And I am all for wanting more. I believe deeply in growth, ambition, and becoming.
But I also believe we can become so focused on creating the life we want that we forget to experience the life we’re already living.
Ambition and appreciation can exist at the same time.
Maybe that’s one of the biggest things this magical summer has reminded me.
I can keep building.
I can keep dreaming.
I can keep becoming.
This is good, too.
And I can still stop long enough to say,
A Thought to Drop
As summer begins to wind down, I want to leave you with a few questions:
What happened this summer that you didn’t plan for?
What ordinary moment became meaningful because you actually stopped long enough to notice it?
And maybe most importantly:
What is already good in your life that you’ve been too busy to fully experience?
Take a few minutes with those questions this week.
Because sometimes the magic isn’t something we have to go find.
Sometimes it’s already happening.
We just have to notice it.
One More Thing…
If you’re newer here, this summer I’ve been sharing different tools and resources to help us think more intentionally about the lives we’re creating.
And there’s one in particular that I created earlier this summer that I’m really proud of, and I’m bringing it back this week.
The Future Self Roadmap
The Future Self Roadmap helps you get clear on the person you’re becoming and the life you want to create. Then it helps you close the gap between where you are and where you want to be, one intentional decision at a time. If you missed it the first time, you can subscribe to Thought Drop Thursday and grab it below.
Here’s to noticing what’s already here.
Liz