Sometimes, in your magical practice, you can be so caught up in the results you want that you forget something essential about your practice: that you need to work the process of your magic and worry less about the results. I found myself having this re-realization recently because I was getting fixated on a specific result and when I recognized I was getting fixated, I gently reminded myself that I needed to re-orient and focus on the process instead of the result.
Now it may seem strange to say that in the context of results based magic. After all, if you’re focused on getting a result, shouldn’t the result matter the most? That’s a good question to ask and it is fair to say that conventionally results are treated as king/queen in that context. But as I’ve learned with my practice, it can actually be more beneficial to focus less on the result and more on the process, especially when you’re engaged in long term magical work.
Most of my magical practice, at this point, is long term magical work, with a focus on continually manifesting specific results over a longer period of time. In contrast, short term magical workings are focused on achieving the result in the short term, but don’t necessarily look beyond that short term at the whole picture. I find that short term magic is reactive magic, great for fixing a problem or crisis. Long term magic, conversely, is focused on the big picture, on sculpting and design specific outcomes for the long term. Results are still important, but mainly in the context of determining whether or not you’re going in the right direction with your long term work, or if you need to change directions, to get back on the right track.
So when I find myself getting fixated on a result, in the context of a long term magical working, what it really makes me do is question why I’m getting fixated on the result and what do I need to do to work my process.
Generally if I’m getting fixated on a result its because I’m either not achieving the result I want, or I am achieving it and I’m letting that achievement get in the way of the process. If I’m not achieving the result I want, then it comes down to a matter of examining the result so I can figure out what isn’t working in my process and why. The result can provide valuable clues that help me troubleshoot my magic.
On the other hand, if I’m achieving the result, but I’m getting caught up in that achievement, that can also get in the way of the process of magic, because at that point I’m more focused on the result, instead of on working the process. I want to acknowledge the result, of course, but because the result is really part of a continuing process, what I need to recognize is that it’s an indicator that the process is working and then I need to work that process even more and also continue to refine and improve on it.
When you get caught up in the success of a result, it can blind you to the process and with long term work, you really don’t want that to happen, because the result isn’t the end of the process. It’s a continuation of the process.
How do you recognize you’re being blinded by the result?
Simply look at what you are putting your time and effort toward. If you’re focusing on the result more than the process, then get back to the process. And view the result in context to the process and ask yourself what that result is telling you, learn from it, and then apply what you’ve learned to your process.
