Ep #87: The Magic of Summer

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes, the whole world around you. Because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it,” Roald Dahl.

So, today’s podcast episode is the result of me going on my own quest for a bit of summer magic. And if we’re thinking about the magic of the elements, particularly the fire element, maybe some of you out there too feel like you have been playing with fire. You’ve been on a burn, on a tear, getting things done, and also while the world seems like it’s burning down around us sometimes.

But maybe, now what you’re feeling you are in need of is more balance and avoiding the burnout. So, this got me thinking about the magic of summer. I was thinking about this for many reasons. And what is more magical than a summer bonfire, than stories being told around the bonfire, than fireflies flickering around?

So, in today’s podcast episode, I have some magical stories to share with you. Listen in. Enjoy. And remember, watch that world with glittering eyes. Because those who don’t believe in magic will never find it. And I want for all of you to find it.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Welcome, everyone, welcome. How are you doing? Maybe you’re listening to this later. Maybe it’s not July. I’m recording this the first week of July. Maybe it’s not July 2020. Maybe it’s later in the future. And I know that, in this part of the world – I’m in Michigan in the United States – we are in the heat of summer. And I know not all of my listeners are in the summertime season right now.

But I think collectively, we are experiencing a global climate that can feel very hot and very intense. And I know when I speak to many of my clients, colleagues, friends and loved ones in the world, with everything that’s been going on, it’s been a lot to process and to bear between the pandemic, racism, and racial injustice, the economy.

And meanwhile, trying to continue to maintain a sense of – I don’t even think it’s a sense of normalcy, but I just know many people out there are not unlike what we are doing here, and you’re doing your best to carry on and plan for the future while also experiencing a lot of intensity.

And so, I know for myself personally, as I mentioned in the intro, I was feeling the heat. And I am typically a person who can find her center in calm. And I attribute this a lot to the copious amounts of alone time I had growing up that seemed like a hobby of mine, to find center and calm and to take respite in my imagination and in big thoughts. And I think also the environment where I grew up had an effect on me.

There was, though, unencumbered horizon, the big sky was as much a part of the landscape as the very distant horizon. And I think that lends itself, for me anyway, it lent itself to a different kind of thinking, which I’m grateful for. Because, at times, I know I was bored and longing for more friends, or to be out in the world where the rest of the world seemed to be happening. But at the same time, it also, I think, was this deep inner training and a really perfect beginning for what I do now.

But that being said, I for sure have not been feeling it has been as easy to access that place of deep peace and stillness in the eye of the storm. And too, thinking about this, the play of the elements. Like, fire is never good, nor bad. It’s very yang in the energy. It makes things happen. It brings heat. It brings light. It’s how we cook our food. It creates energy. There’s combustion combined with fuel, it makes things go.

And then also, the term that kept coming to mind was burnt out. I for sure don’t want to burn out. A mentor once said that there’s nothing sadder than a burnt-out life coach. And I thought that was, that’s right on, sister. I agree. And I talk to a lot of people who are not life coaches, though, and normally have an easier time accessing center and peace and are having a hard time of that too lately.

So, I always want to be practicing what I preach and doing my own work. So, I got as still and quiet as you can during a pandemic when everybody is home and you’re building a new house and moving and running a pretty significant business and all of that. And when I did and asked myself what I most needed, the message I received was the magic.

I needed an infusion of the magic again to bring that element in. And then once I got clear and intentional about that and allowed that, because I think that is, again, second to stopping and listening and asking yourself – I like to ask my clients, you know, what is your soul craving, what is your deepest, wisest self telling you that you need? And mine was an unequivocal magic and then there’s no letting the analytical logical mind argue with that. It’s just following through.

And then it’s second, setting the intention that that’s what you’re going to do. And then, so that’s why I wanted to lead this particular episode with that Roald Dahl quote which I love, “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you. Because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

So, that believing element is so important. And I don’t know if, at this point, I will have anybody tuning out, because if you’ve been with me long enough, you know that I walk amid many worlds, the very pragmatic, and then also here I am talking about magic. And those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.

But it reminds me too of this other quote I always loved growing up. It was on the wall of my childhood bedroom, a quote from Mark Twain about, “Don’t part with your illusions, for when they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.”

And I thought for a long time, I loved it as a little girl. When I was an adolescent and young adult, I thought, well, illusions, I don’t, why would anybody want to keep their illusions? And then I got into the world of meditation and cognitive psychology and the thought world and realized, really, it’s about perception and it’s about the agency we have over the thoughts that we think. And that could be termed an illusion, but a choice one.

So, anyway, this brings me back to deciding for myself, I wanted to decide again to find the magic and to bring that in. Because I, for sure, love, love, love what I do. And burnout, I don’t want that to happen. I want to be an example of somebody who takes extraordinary care of herself. And there are so many things that I want to do and so many people that I want to support, and so many visions that I want to help bring to fruition.

So, I take this kind of advice from myself when I hear it, when it smacks of that deep truth, like it did. So, I decided I would start to look for magic. And so, what I wanted to share with you, then pretty quickly, just a few of the examples of the places that I found it.

Because I thought maybe you too have been thinking a lot. Maybe you’ve been worrying a lot. Maybe you felt heavy. Maybe you’ve been overanalyzing or you feel burdened or you feel depressed or downtrodden or like there’s so much to do and you just don’t have the spark, the magic, the fire in you right now to do it. Maybe you’re questioning the dreams that you have.

So, maybe you too need an infusion of magic. And I think stories can carry that kind of healing. If you listened to my conversation with Dr. Tererai Trent, that’s something she conveyed in that interview so beautifully, that our stories can carry healing. And I think stories too can carry healing in terms of when they carry this kind of energy that brings you back to life.

So, what I wanted to do with this podcast was to imagine that it’s a beautiful summer evening here in Michigan, and no matter where you are in the world, you’re gathered around with me here out in the country, and we have a beautiful bonfire glowing underneath the stars, with the fireflies flitting about and lighting up the night and beneath the trees and the moon. And we tell magical stories. The kind of evening that makes you think, “Yes, this is what it is to be alive.”

So, the first story of then where I found the magic was I was also sensing – I’ve told you about writing my book. And I was feeling a lack of energy for doing that. And I also believe in the magic of consistency and showing up, even when you don’t feel like it, and not needing to take your emotional temperature. I’m a big believer in that kind of discipline, in that kind of consistency. And I also want to honor nurturing myself and nurturing that organic fuel.

So, I knew with the book, I knew I do the part of showing up consistently disciplined. What I knew I also needed to do was give myself an infusion of the kind of energy that I want to use to write this book. And so, also at that time, this wonderful woman who had taken the Art School Immersion, Mary Click, had reached out to me and she had started this charming, amazing business called Mary and the Tarot, and she offered to do this tarot reading for me.

And it’s really just exquisite the way she does it. You ask her a question and then she writes you a letter, a hand-written letter, and mails it. And there is something just, again, really exquisite about receiving a letter in the mail, first of all, a handwritten letter, but then also, one with this kind of magical message in it.

And the way she writes, she’s a gifted artist, a gifted writer, poet, and it comes through in the way that she writes. This was such a gift. And she’d asked me if she could write one of these letters for me. And I was so grateful and took her up on this. So, I had asked a question about what I needed to do to best support the writing of my book.

And the letter was so on point. I love it when that happens. And o won’t read the whole thing. I’ll just tell you it was, again, an infusion of magic and spark. And she had said something that affirmed what my intuition had said, which felt exponentially magical. And that was that the energy that I needed was the same energy that I was writing about in the book.

And actually, a good part of the book takes place in the summertime and it is about this sacredness and it’s a magical book and it’s about something about the magic of summertime too. And she also nailed it by saying that it’s about a marriage of light and dark and that I needed to work with both of those energies to write a book that reflects those energies.

So, that was something that I looked for, received, acknowledged, and celebrated, and then also wanted to share here with you. And also, if you were looking for that particular kind of magic, I highly recommend Mary and the Tarot. It is a delightful thing to do for yourself and for your muse, if you have a muse like mine.

So, the second piece of magic that has risen to the surface very recently – so, you know, if you listened to the last podcasts with Dr. Tererai Trent, and I said, “Hey, I’m going to plant a seed that this book gets in the hands of Reese Witherspoon.” Because I think a woman like Reese Witherspoon, and particularly all the work she has done to amplify the work and the voices of extraordinary female writers and artists and married with the phenomenal human being that Tererai Trent is and the phenomenal book, the Awakened Woman, that she has written.

And then again, meeting at this intersection of this place in time where we are right now, given what is going on in the world, I just feel like that is a match made in heaven and I believe so much in the book, in Tererai’s message and mission. I think it’s done. And so, I asked all of you if you would help me get the book to Reese.

And many of you wrote in and said how moved you were by those episodes. And I greatly appreciate that and that you would send messages, reach out to people. And it’s been not only a week, and listen to this story.

So, Zohar Zoe Tirosh-Polk, who is an artist herself, she is a playwright, she is a coach, she’s the founder of THRIVE Creative New York. She reached out and told me that she was so rearranged herself in the most powerful, positive way by Dr. Trent. And she sent me a list of people that she reached out to, to ask if they would amplify Dr. Trent’s message and the book.

And again, this is not even a week had gone by and she had already received – I mean, first of all, I was so wowed and grateful that she did this. and second of all, one of the amazing women she reached to, Alysia Reiner, said yes. And Alysia Reiner, as many of you probably know, is an amazing actress and an activist and has a large platform.

And then she so stepped up and shared the podcast episode and commented that it was very hope-giving and that we need more hope, like the voices, like the people, the leaders that Dr. Tererai Trent bring. So, that was a huge piece of magic that just transpired in the last week. So, that was amazing. And I also wanted to give a shoutout to those two women, Zohar Zoe Tirosh-Polk and Alysia Reiner, for so graciously doing that and taking the time to do that.

So, the next piece of magic – I’m going to share four. This is the third. There are many more that I could pull from because once you start intending and looking for it, you will infuse your life with magic. And for me, that just brings a sense of joy and aliveness and fun and playfulness back to my work. And also, I will say, abundance and straight-up money.

Because if I am not doing this element, if I get too much back into my lawyer self, analytical self, too much on the straight and narrow side, things dry up for me. And I think it’s actually part of my people-pleasing self too, to want to stay back on that straight and narrow side. When really, the way to be abundant for me is when I am more myself. And the more I am me, then the more I get paid.

And the true me actually loves to play in this space and relishes walking both as competently and confidently and the pragmatic as she does in the spiritual, the mystical, the intuitive, the creative, the magical, the mystery, that which we cannot understand.

So, this next one I wanted to share was the place I’m sitting currently, our new home. I looked around, because I’d love to share a post of the picture on Instagram, somewhere in my boxes and boxes right now, I have this red journal. And in the red journal, there is a folder that I made in one of the pages. And in that folder is a drawing I made of our dream home.

And I made it several years ago because I was kind of heartbroken on a trip back form Iowa. It was when we were still living in Indiana. And we’d been here several years in Indiana, not Michigan yet. And I still didn’t feel like I had a home. Other places still felt like home. Indiana still didn’t feel like home.

So, on one of those drives back, rather than just sitting in my pity party not wanting to come back to Indiana, I just then asked myself that question, “Well then, what is it, that deepest part of me? What is it that you really want? What is it that you’re dreaming?”

And I, in the car, while my husband drove, I drew a picture of my dream house, of the setting, of the acreage, the big acreage. I wrote out this big description of even the approach to the house, the grand old trees that leaned out over the road, a grove of pine trees, and I even described neighbors down the road and what they were like.

And I described the interior of the house and just the layout until that part of me felt like, yeah, I was – I felt complete. And at the time, that seemed so farfetched. And now, here I sit. The one thing – I need to find the paper because I know the one thing that is not what I had written down was I had anticipated this being in a different part of the country where there were more rolling hills.

So, I had rolling hills written into the description of the land and the property. And we have some elevation-change here, but not that. But everything else, right down to the trees that lean out over the road, right down to the orientation of the house, like north, south, east, west, the layout of the house, the circle drive, right down to neighbors, I had written down a description that one set of our neighbors would be a husband and wife that were both doctors but that were about ready to retire. And that they would appreciate and enjoy having a family like ours with our age of children in the neighborhood and that we’d have a nice warm relationship with them, and that they’d have a pool and they would let my kids come over and swim in their pool.

And so, at first I thought I was a little off there because we do have neighbors that fit that bill down the road, but he’s a dentist. And I didn’t think she was a doctor until I came to find out, we got to know them better. I know she’s an artist. She’s a photographer. And then came to find out that she actually also is a doctor, that she just decided to no longer practice medicine years ago. And they also do in fact have a pool which they also have in fact very generously invited our family to use whenever we want. But that was last year before, obviously, the COVID changing circumstances this year.

But many other just very nuanced little descriptions like that. So, all of that to say – and then here I sit in that home – all of that to say, write these things down, draw a picture, give yourself this. If you’re feeling burnt out, if you’re feeling, just, “I don’t know why I did this in the first place,” maybe what you need, if you’re feeling burnt out, is not to burn it all down but to go back and find a different kind of spark. Work with the element in a different way. And so, again, that’s why I wanted to bring in this infusion of storytelling.

So, that brings me to the final story that I wanted to share around our virtual and very socially distant appropriate bonfire this evening. So, in the month of June, friends of ours who moved to this area from out east within the last year, he had grown up in Michigan and then moved away, you know, in his mid-20s. But then, within the last year, moved back with his wife and very lovely children.

And when he grew up as a boy in Michigan, his grandfather had this cabin up north, as is common for many native Michiganders and folks form Northern Indiana, is to have a cabin or a cottage or have somebody in your family that has a cabin or a cottage up north. We are just learning about these things, being relatively recent transplants. But it is beautiful, up North Michigan.

And he would tell stories about how much he loved this cabin that his grandfather had built with friends of his. And that he’d spent so much time there as a boy in the summer, fishing, fly-fishing, and had so many wonderful memories of his grandfather. And ever since then, he’d always dreamed of owning a cabin up north.

So, since he moved back with his family to this area about a year ago, they’d been taking trips up north, and had in the back of his mind that, okay, well maybe it’s coming close to that time again, it’s been 30 years since his grandfather sold the cabin, maybe it’s about the time in his life where he could buy his own cabin and start making memories with his own family up there.

So, in June, he had gone up with his family, his wife and daughters. He’d picked up his parents along the way and they drive up to this little town. And he needed a fly-fishing rod. So, they stayed overnight. The next morning, he went into town with his family to get some flies, I guess for his fishing rod, at the store. And his mom waited outside.

And while he was inside, he just struck up a conversation with a gentleman that came in and he said he noticed, he just thought it was odd, but he noticed that the man had his pants, the right leg of his pants and his loafer, right loafer, were soaking wet. And the guy laughed and said, “Yeah, I just sprung a leak in my waders this morning when I was out fishing in the river and had to come in and get a new pair.”

And he said he just had a nice conversation with the man. He was a man in his 80s. And they just talked about their love of fly fishing and he was about to go on his day when his mom came in. She’d been waiting outside and said, “Hey, I need you to come outside.” And he’s like, “Well, can it wait a minute?” And she’s like, “No, I really need you to come outside. You’ve got to hear this.”

So, his mom took him outside and it turns out she’d been talking to the wife of the 80-year-old fisherman whose waders had sprung a leak. And they just sprung up a conversation and the wife had said, “Well, where are you staying?” And she’s like, “We just came in this area because my father used to have a cabin in this area.” And the woman said, “Oh, where?” And she said, “Oh you wouldn’t know, it’s a really small town. It’s still a bit north of here.” And she said, “Really, well where?”

So, she told her the name of the town and the woman said, “I know exactly where that is. We have a cabin there.” And she said, “Oh really?” And she’s like, “Yeah, what was your father’s name?” And she’s like, “Gosh, it’s been over 30 years since he passed and since they sold the cabin, you wouldn’t know him.” And she’s like, “Try me. We’ve been around a while. We don’t live here fulltime but we come up in the summers. Try me.”

And so, she told them her father’s name and the woman she had been speaking to said, “That’s who we bought the cabin from. That’s who we bought our cabin from 30 years ago.” And the woman went on to say, “We just came into town today actually because my husband just sprung a leak in his waders this morning while he was fishing and he came in to get a new pair of waders.” And her husband was the man that our friend had been talking to inside.

So, all of those serendipities – and I will pause also then to back up a little bit and tell you part of the story that I didn’t want to tell you first, because then you would see this coming. This friend of ours had been trying to reach the owner of that cabin, his grandfather’s cabin, for a long time. His wife had been working on it too. They’d even driven up to where it was, but it has a very long lane and is a private drive and there’s a lot of properties that say no trespassing and the lane is blocked off so they couldn’t drive back in and introduce themselves and didn’t think they should either.

So, they at other times parked outside and just waited, hoping that the owners would drive up and they could strike up a conversation and just ask if they could at least see the cabin. They called realtors in the area and they tried to get the phone number of the owners of what was formerly his grandfather’s cabin. And either no one had the accurate phone numbers or they tried and no one answered or there was no response.

So, then they thought it apparently is just not meant to be. But they did just keep trying anyway, like maybe one of these times we’ll get a hit. And sure enough, they did. But it wasn’t the way they anticipated.

So, back to the serendipitous meeting and the fly-fishing store. And the elderly couple who owned the grandfather’s cabin said, “Well you know what, actually, we own the adjacent property and we’re looking to sell that. But we’re also looking to probably, in five years, sell your grandfather’s cabin. And we’d love – this seems like this meeting was meant to be. If you are at all in the market for a cabin, we would really love it if you would come look and see if you were meant to buy this.”

So, again, fast forward a few weeks and now our friends did in fact buy the cabin on the adjacent property. It’s a beautiful parcel, along one of the best fly-fishing rivers in Michigan. And along with that property, they also purchased the right of first refusal to buy our friend’s grandfather’s in five years.

Because this couple, he’s a pilot and he said, in a few years, he doesn’t think he’ll be comfortable flying that far north anymore and they’ll probably just stay in Florida. And so, it looks like they’re on their way to owning that boyhood cabin, our friend’s grandfather’s cabin.

And I’m leaving out a few details, just to protect privacy of individuals. And I can tell you, when they told us this story, when they stood in our kitchen and told this story, so many times throughout this story, I got just that rush of chills and goosebumps over and over again, over and over again.

And it was also good medicine to hear a story like that in ways that I just don’t even want to over-talk about here. But I wanted to share this story because it may be just the kind of good medicine that’s mysterious and that you don’t need to completely wrap words around, but that imparts something to you that you’re needing right now.

And it also smacked of something that a dear wise and magical friend reminded me of recently. And I will again just paraphrase, but it was to the effect that it’s important to remember that there are also other forces at work in the world. And the way that is said, again, I won’t overanalyze it, over-talk it, I’ll just leave that with you.

Because when she said that, that was a healing to me, hearing the story of our friends. That was a healing to me. And I think it is again that paradox of so much of the world seems to be in chaos right now. Like everybody says, it’s uncertain. We know that. And yet, here are some stories that you can’t explain, right, they’re inexplicable, how that all came about.

And yet, you can sense design in it. And there is also this delicious sense of it’s not entirely within our control, and here are instances in which that is such a tremendous gift and relief.

So, this brings me to the part of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to lean in and really work with me, and coach with me. So, first of all, get quiet and still and tune into your own deep, highest, truest self. Maybe the word soul resonates with you. Maybe consciousness. And ask yourself, you know, what is it that that deepest, truest, most essential part of you is craving and needs right now.

For me, it was magic. But for you, it may not be. It may very well be something very different. So, lean in and ask yourself that. And then also, just for fun and bonus points, even if yours wasn’t magic, why not play a game? Why not decide, in the next week, that you are going to use your beautiful glittering eyes, my listeners, and watch the whole world around you and see how, from the most unlikely places, those greatest secrets emerge. Give yourself an opportunity, even if you don’t believe ordinarily, what if just for a week you did? You might just find it.

Thank you so much for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, if these episodes have been useful to you, the best thing you can do to pay it forward is to share, is to subscribe, is to go to iTunes and leave a review. That helps me get this podcast to more and more people. And I truly, truly appreciate it. And I’m also grateful that you’re out there listening.

So, when I read your reviews, it’s just another way t connect with you, the listener, and hear about what’s going on in your world and what resonates with you. And when you’re ready to take this work deeper, there are two ways to do that.

There is The Art School Fall 2020, which is open for enrollment. And when you enroll in The Art School Fall, you also have access to the summer workshop series. Also, there is The Art School Mastermind. That is open for application. We’re kicking off in August. So, if you are looking for a very advanced level of coaching, extraordinary community, going after big, bold, audacious goals and yes, it feels like magic and there is also that pragmatic piece of the magic of building muscles of consistency and stamina.

For instance, May was one of my biggest months ever. I had an $85,000 month in May, which I share to show you what is possible, that you can be somebody who walks with a foot in both worlds, in the pragmatic, in the business and the entrepreneurial, and also squarely honoring your values in creativity, in arts, in intuition, in spirituality, in the mystical, and in the mysterious.

And so, if that sounds like the place in which you want to play, if you know that the vision that you have is going to require an extraordinary level of belief, you need to expand the capacity of your mind, but also your community and your life to hold a vision that big.

And sometimes, people limit themselves because a vision that big either seems to dangerous, it seems like it’s for other people. It seems crazy. It seems irresponsible. It seems amazing and yet, when they go to do it, the belief that it requires is actually something that makes them feel like they are jeopardizing that very responsible, analytical, pragmatic part of themselves in order to get there.

But that is why, in this group, we marry the two of them. That is how you become whole and you have the fullness of your potential available to you. It’s not about being left-brained or right-brained or, you know, you’re good at the arts but you’re bad at money. It is about claiming all of the power, all of the creative power that is available to you, power to create deep meaningful works, to take your art and your career to the next level and from a place of deep creative artistic integrity while also meeting, achieving, exceeding every single one of your, quote unquote more worldly goals; the financial goals, the relationship goals.

You can thrive on all levels. And this community is a sacred, profound, and powerful container in which to do so. So, if this seems like something you’re hungry and ready for and you have a next level goal, dream, or vision for your life, then head over to www.leahcb.com. Go to the Mastermind tab there and, on that page, you will find the link to the application.

Also, the mastermind includes the entire Art Scholl experience, which is a tremendous value in and of itself. And on top of that, you have six months of a world class coaching community and mastermind experience.

So, to close today’s podcast, I have lines from a poem, form a poet that I think was very adept at knowing that there really s no boundary or line between the real, the natural world that we live in and the supernatural.

So, this is from William Blake, “To see the world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower. Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”

I also wanted to plant a seed, a magical seed with you. And that is, I’ve said on other podcasts, that I fully intend for there to be art babies, amazing art babies created from those listening to this podcast. So, whether that is more money in the bank, whether that’s a dream home, whether that’s you writing your book, getting a book deal, winning a Tony award, winning an Oscar, getting a record deal, starting a family, whatever it might be for you, that is my intention, that something in this podcast ignites that spark within you and supports you in creating that.

And this week, I want to get a little bit more specific as I ask you to watch for the magic in your life and to give yourself, this summer, maybe even a week, but come on, give it a summer even, to believe in it. And I would love to hear from you about the magic that appears in your life, because I know it will once you intend it and once you start to loo for it, it will surround you.

Have a beautiful week, everyone, I will talk to you next time.