The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Every Day
Sharon Blackie
Ambrosia, 2018
Goodreads | Hoopla [Print | Audiobook] | Bibliocommons
This is my book of 2020. Sharon Blackie brought together all of the themes that have been swirling around in my head for months, and wove them together in a lyrical exploration of what it means to live a magical life. Grounding ourselves on the land, within story, with an open heart and mind to that which we can perceive but not see is Blackie’s way of finding belonging and immersion in life.
I listened to this in audio, mostly at work, and frequently I had to stop to make a note of things I wished to further explore or contemplate, or things which I had considered and was pleased to hear someone else consider them also. There is much work to draw out of this book and bring forward in my own life, enough that it caused me to pause before moving on to my next read, that I may spend some time enacting those things instead of simply observing them passively.
Blackie is privileged, there is no doubt, and this may sour the book for some. It is not possible for everyone – not even most – to leave their job to return to the land on a “small” croft of seven acres; it certainly isn’t anything that I could do. Yet I do not think that she implies it as necessary, simply part of her experience, even though that experience may be out of the reach of most. In this way, perhaps it is part of my work to discover how to draw enchantment from a suburban townhouse life.
Give this a slow listen. I do recommend the audiobook, and then perhaps borrowing the print to go back through some of her exercises and questions.
star & stone 
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