Of Finding Our Purpose and Calling on Magic

by Alfonsina Betancourt

I always joke that I have a Librarian Complex. Not only because I obviously love books - the actual physical books, not just reading – but also because I love to organize and categorize everything: information, ideas, feelings, facial features, personality types…you name it! Maybe it was because my brain worked that way that from a very young age I started seeing my life as a series of puzzle pieces, each representing things I was either good at or that I loved to do.  One piece, for example, was my passion to create constantly. Another one was my interest in building communities. I was the child always organizing groups, bringing people together through common interests. Later on, when I had a short stint doing theater, I discovered that I really loved creating experiences where people felt transported.  As I started growing up and all these pieces started fitting into each other I realized they contained my purpose. What a great feeling to start discovering what we came to do in this world!  I feel my “Purpose Puzzle” is still evolving and I can identify pieces that still haven’t fit there, but I know they eventually will.

photo: @rosssneddon

The last couple of years have offered me the opportunity of immense growth, although sometimes they have come like axes that have as well left me terribly bruised. The beauty of it is that it has brought me closer to find my purpose, and I am grateful for that.

Back in December an opportunity came for me out of the blue. It is the stuff that makes you feel you are Cinderella and for some unexplainable reason I have been granted a magical encounter with my Godmother. Ten days before, during a full moon – I know, I am weird like that- I set my intention of what I wanted to do with my life and I asked the universe to put in my path the people that could help me make my dreams come true. I have always been a dreamer, so it could have turned out really bad. But that time was different.  I had finally realized how so many of my life puzzle pieces fit and I had a clear vision and intention of how I was going to use my talents and passions to realize my purpose. What I asked was not for magic; it was for the path to bring my vision to life, because I had found an incredible clarity that I never had before. 

Ten days later a received a message and a new path I had never imagined before opened up in front of my eyes and made my heart vibrate and my soul sing.

photo: @aaronvisuals

I guess that is how life loves to surprise us when we are flexible enough to not be stuck on the HOW and instead put our energy in the WHAT and especially the WHY.

As I was telling this story to a very wise woman in my life, I shared that for the first time in my life I felt like Cinderella. How could it be that someone comes out of the blue and makes you an offer for something you were not actively looking for and putting in motion my purpose, with all its puzzle pieces attached?  This woman smiled and she told me, “maybe YOU are the Godmother.” 

I froze first. A smile drew on my face. I nodded right after.

I have always had a hopeful heart. In fact, I think hope has been what has kept me afloat so many times. Not letting difficulties and disappointments robbed me out of my optimism has been a commitment I have done with my soul.  However, this moment of my life had made me doubt if I was taking the concoction of Disney movies too far. Can we really generate this kind of magic?

photo: @reet__noonan

photo: @reet__noonan

When we do all of the internal work, when we tumble down all the walls we build around our heart, when we start listening to our intuition rather than inner or societal voices, when we focus on what our soul rather than our ego wants, the universe becomes a Godmother in steroids.  We are able to talk so clearly that we are heard.  At that moment, we become both Cinderella and Godmother. We are able to ask the wish, clean the floors, become resourceful and at the same time, work so hard on identifying our life’s path that we can crate magic: the right people show up, we can make anybody feel better and beautiful, we engage the help of pets and pumpkins, and we become the reason anybody, including ourselves, can believe in love and magic.  The Godmother shows up when Cinderella has done all the work to prepare herself to receive the enchantment.

Some people call it the Law of Attraction. For me, it is the practice of paying attention to our life’s puzzle. When we recognize the sound of our soul, we understand what we need and what would create a greater impact in our life and in others as ripple effects. The Universe hears that and pays attention, and sometimes also send us obstacles to help us gain the clarity we need.

The world is an experiment on magic creation. I am glad I got to understand that both the capacity to dream and to make those dreams come true have always reside in me. Now I only have to keep showing up for myself so that no puzzle piece is lost, while I keep believing in fantasies that make me see the world as a fairytale, where I get to be a kick-ass Cinderella and a powerful Fairy Godmother at once.

And I hope to keep doing it in my happily – and occasionally hard-to-achieve- ever after.

photo: @sapegin