Casual Magic

Photos: Angela Petrovska

Hey there. It's been a while, hasn't it? And where do I even begin? I could go on about how I've spent this year, how much it sucks, and how angry I am, and sad and hopeful at the same time, but what would be the point? Plus, I already have two posts that stayed in my drafts that have just word vomit in them about my personal frustrations and thoughts on this situation, that consequently stayed unpublished because it just felt untrue to what I want to put out. Although I love to sprinkle positivity as much as I can in this Internet world, I think we deserve some realism as well - but what I had written so far this year was just either me lying to myself about how I've made the best of the situation, or just straight up despair and taking everything at face value. So, in true Libra fashion, I am now just caught up in my head trying to create the perfect balance between realism and positivity in 2020, and how I saw this year in retrospect. 

I've been watching a lot of YouTube (no shame here, I see it as watching a TV show or a movie), and I've really been enjoying the content of UnJadedJade and her concept of casual magic. She explains it as "not there to desensitize us of the struggle we go through on a day to day basis, not to be seen as "toxic positivity", but instead to ask yourself, what tiny thing that doesn't need to be grand can you be grateful for?" which in my opinion is the perfect way to look back on this year, and think a bit deeper about the mundane moments we don't give a second thought to. I've touched on the topic of "appreciating the small moments" before on this blog and rambled on about how I've changed my POV, etc. and I'll be the first to admit that it comes and goes in waves, more absent than not. It's hard to stay positive and content when the whole world is crumbling before your eyes and to say that you're happy might even come off as a tad insensitive. However, when I catch myself truly enjoying a moment, and that little voice appears in the back of my mind that says "No, no, how dare you to forget about how scary it is to live in this world right now", it's like a little split-second dialogue appears out of nowhere between me and my subconscious where I fight hard to snap back and say "I'm not forgetting, just choosing to look at the world in a different way just for a moment and remember that there's hope." 

I often think about this, mainly because right now thinking is what's occupying most of our time, and I came to the conclusion that I've been witnessing all these little magical moments, but not really paying attention. Sometimes I do, my friends often hear me saying "The weather is so nice" which for me isn't just filler conversation or a blanket statement. For me, it's appreciating how lucky we are to have a gorgeous day and to be able to enjoy it at that given moment, together. Heck, even this photoshoot was casual magic, that we were able to stumble upon this location, and (safely) take pictures without disturbing anyone. So, because I'm Elena, and I love making lists, I've made a short general list of things I think we can all agree are casual magic, even though we wouldn't think twice about them when in the moment. I hope some of you reading this may find this interesting and alas, it might even change how you see things for a second, but what I need you to come out of the other end with is just a bit more appreciation towards the mundane, because that's all we've got left. 

I'm interested to hear other opinions on this topic, and what others see as casual magic. If you feel like sharing leave a comment below or send me a message on Instagram, I love reading what everyone has to say about little niche topics such as this one! And in addition to this whole idea of finding beauty in the little things, for those of you who want to delve deeper into their psyche, might I suggest journaling and writing out what you're grateful for. Personally, I don't journal on the regular, maybe once in a blue moon, but writing this post has been really refreshing and has put me in such a good mood, so I think it's good to take into consideration in stressful times like these as a form of therapy and me-time. Let me know if you have any thoughts about this too, I would love to read your take on this too. 

Have a lovely day, week, month! Talk soon xx