There are also sorts of words associated with magic – incantations, spells – call them what you will — said in an effort to produce a desired outcome.
“Open says me” or is it “Open sesame”? As a kid I was never really sure. In any case it always worked for Aladdin.
There’s also the well-known “abracadabra” and the tried and true, “presto change-o”. Or the two words most popular words in any language, “I wish.”
I have my own set of magic words that I meditate upon when faced with a particularly onerous task, a tough negotiation or a difficult period in my life. It’s a short-term solution for a short-term problem but in saying it, it buys me a moment of calm so that I can think clearly and carry on.
Allow me to give you an example. After three weeks on the road I had settled for a short period of time in Istanbul where I could finally unpack a few things rather than rummage through my suitcase in search of the ever-missing mate to a pair of knee-highs.
I had come from the increasingly cold climate of Europe to sunny Turkey for a trade show, Paints Istanbul. I was staying at an airport hotel near the Exhibition Center but far enough outside Istanbul to make it too tiring to trek into the city for dinner and a change of scenery. However, the hotel had a lovely outdoor terrace located on a quiet and well-manicured mezzanine rooftop. I was often the only one there, and if it hadn’t been for the roar of jet engines from the airport or the call to prayer by the mullah at a nearby Mosque, it could have been my own little English cottage garden – if I had one.
That rooftop garden quickly became a refuge I was reluctant to leave. On my last afternoon, as I enjoyed a lovely lunch, I kept glancing at my watch. In two hours, I thought, I will be battling a crush of people at the airport, queuing up for passport control, queuing up again for security, and then beginning the countdown for the three-hour flight back to Germany where I would repeat the process of passport control and security in preparation for the ten-hour economy flight from Frankfurt to S. Africa.
I didn’t want to go. “What if,” I thought? What if I stayed? What if I found a little job in a nearby resort – shades of Shirley Valentine. But I dropped that line of thinking immediately. Like a good lawyer, I never like to ask a question, I don’t already know the answer to. And, sometimes what you want and what you have to do don’t always align.
Instead, I did what I always do to get me through a difficult or unpleasant situation. I looked at my watch, which read 2:00 p.m. and pushed the thought of air travel out of my mind in favor of time travel. I projected myself, or tried to see myself, in the future and said the three little words that get me through most of life’s little travails: “This time tomorrow…” and pictured a completed task, a lovely place, or hard feelings forgotten.
I know that by meditating on these words: this time tomorrow, or next week or next year means that whatever difficulties lie in front of me will eventually be behind me. They will magically disappear, like all things, with the passage of time.
Thank you for this. As I write this, I’m so tired with being overworked and having a cold that I can barely remember what you’re suppose to say when you answer a phone. Ah, but this time tomorrow, I’ll be at the coffee and dessert end of a lovely lunch with friends. Thanks for the hint.
Sonia
Hi So,
I hope you’re feeling better. I’m sure the lunch and the time passed with friends was the perfect cure for what is now behind you. Cat 🙂
This is beautiful, Cat. I felt as if I had joined you on the rooftop garden, here in my condo on a lovely fall day – it’s the passion for adventure that makes these quiet moments so precious, n’est-ce-pas?
Thank you Lorrie. I marvel at my great good fortune to be able to experience both. And to share them with friends however far flung. I imagine autumn in Montreal is spectacular. Enjoy and see you soon!
Very lovely thought and inspiring words to get one by during difficult times. Very good advice. Thanks Cat!
Thanks Veronica. Sometimes when we’re in the midst of a struggle it seems like it will go on forever. But it’s amazing how quickly things pass. I remember my grandmother always used to say, “and this too shall pass” and she was right.
I am tired just thinking of all that traveling. I know you love it and maybe I’d get used to it. I used to travel 2-3 times a month. I survived it, never enjoyed it.
Luckily, I can travel through you.
I’m on that rooftop garden… This time tomorrow…
This time next week I’ll be home 🙂
And… from a wise, beautiful, smart, stylish grandmother “and this to shall pass”…. Sounds like Grandma Vi must be with you on these travels… Another great way to think about the crazy thing we call life… (travel, work, kids, fun)… Ahhhh this time tomorrow I will be spending time with Cam!!! (as I am sure she won’t be asleep – ha ha)
She’s never far from my thoughts. Lucky us, eh? Have fun with Cam…this time….and she’ll be in College. Just wait and see how fast it goes. Look at those Kennedy kids.
Hi Cat it’s me again.. The magic words of ‘this time next week/month/year’ keep me going all the time. This time next week I will have seen my girls. next month I will have been back to Munich to see friends.. This time next year I want to be riding the first waves of a my career.. I have been to Istanbul twice and every time i have come away with more memories..
That sounds very upbeat and positive Em. It will be interesting to see all of the ground you’ve covered this time next year. Cat