Do you believe in magic?

No, I’m not endorsing McDonald's. I'm endorsing green food. And magic. Bear with me; I too was once skeptical. But then miraculous things started happening to me. And they still happen (even this morning!) but only when I’m in a certain frame of mind – only when I’m truly conscious of being connected to everyone and everything around me. Some people experience this, or at least aim to experience this, in yoga.

“Life Coach” and author Martha Beck describes it as “Oneness: The falling away of dualistic thought.” (I happen to be reading Beck’s new book: Finding Your Way in a Wild New World.) Let me be clear; I am not recommending this book. This book is for people like me, who Beck describes as “wayfinders.” Beck provides some common characteristics of these types of people, which I’ll regurgitate here:

“High levels of empathy.”

“Intense connection to certain types of natural environment, such as the ocean, mountains, or forest.”

“An urgent desire to lessen or prevent suffering for humans, animals, or even plants.”

“Resistance to orthodox religiosity, paradoxically accompanied by a strong sense of either spiritual purpose or spiritual yearning.”

“Very high emotional sensitivity.”

“A sense of having a specific mission or purpose involving a major transformation in human experience, but being unable to articulate what this change might be.”

“A compulsion to master certain fields, skills, or professions, not only for career advancement, but in preparation for this half-understood personal mission.”

“Loneliness stemming from a sense of difference, despite generally high levels of social activity.”

“Apparently gregarious personality contrasting with deep need for periods of solitude; a sense of being drained by social contact and withdrawing to ‘power up’ again.”

Apparently in pre-modern culture these people dubbed “wayfinders” (like moi) would’ve been recognized as the tribe’s healers, i.e. shamans. We incessantly pursue healing of ourselves and of others. I’m always trying to better myself (duh – I read books by Martha Beck!) and I consider myself a storyteller and a spiritual teacher. Anyway, in this “oneness” or non-dualistic mentality, people can will their wishes to come true. Wayfinders can manipulate fate, or objects, with their directed good energy. Some, for example, bend spoons. (Probably just to prove that they can make sh*t happen.) I know this sounds a little bit like hocus pocus, but then again, so does my below reality.

Last night—as per usual—I stayed up way too late reading, and I learned about the importance of eating greens. Veggies are obviously good for all humans, but Beck says they’re especially beneficial for wayfinders. (Beck shares accounts of greens sort of “singing” to wayfinders – like chocolate for normal people.) So this morning when I scribbled a list of things I needed to do today (I do this often) I wrote down “green juice.” I planned to walk over to Equinox or Gourmet Garage to get a green juice before going to work. But first thing’s first: I needed to feed my caffeine addiction, so I went over to Jack’s to get some coffee. And, lo and behold, there was a sign on the counter saying that Jack’s had just acquired… a juice press. Yup, my local coffee shop is now moonlighting as a juice shop. Magic.