The Enchanted Outlook

Happy (belated) new year everyone! I hope everyone is doing well. I have missed you all and missed blogging. I’ve been doing a lot of writing and reading for grad school, but not always on topics of my preference. All this writing has made it a challenge to write for fun, as my “creativity tank” has been on empty after turning in so many other writing assignments. Reading other blog posts has unfortunately presented a similar challenge.

This winter holiday provided a much-needed break and also some time to reflect, both on what I’ve learned in school and on what I want this blog to look like moving forward. For the past few years, I have struggled with wanting to incorporate more advocacy and social change into my blog, but also wanting to keep the focus on finding life’s magic. I felt somehow that these two ideas were in conflict. I think this is because there was a part of me that felt that pointing out the things in the world around me that were not ideal was a negative approach, something that conflicted with my concept of the Enchanted Outlook.

Recently, however, I realized that this does not need to be the case. If I can use the concept of having an Enchanted Outlook to find the magic in life’s personal struggles, why not use this concept to find more positive ways to deal with struggles in the world at large? That’s when I settled on the main focus of my blog for 2019, which is Advocacy Magic.

So, what is Advocacy Magic? It’s using the concepts from my blog, namely, cognitive reframing, positive psychology, and metaphors in fantasy literature and, instead of focusing on personal happiness, focusing instead on making the world a happier place. It’s doing so in a way that will, fingers crossed, be full of joy, fun, interconnectedness, a quest for knowledge, and most importantly, hope. 

I plan on starting each blog post off with a topic highlight of something in the world that could stand to change. My hope is to make this brief, to the point, impactful, and, of course, to make sure that my sources are solid and my facts well-researched. Then, I plan on offering some solutions. While I understand that not EVERY solution, and not EVERY problem is best addressed in a lighthearted manner, the focus of Advocacy Magic will be on solutions that could be seen as enjoyable, rewarding, or that require easy lifestyle changes. I don’t do this against, but rather in addition to, other advocacy styles, because I want the approach of Advocacy Magic to be true to the heart of The Enchanted Outlook, which is to say, a joyful approach.

Finally, I intend to incorporate elements of positive psychology to the idea of advocacy itself, to help others find the joy in being an advocate and maybe take away some of the fear and doubts that can prevent people from working towards positive change.

So that’s it, folks. I hope this is something that will be interesting and fun. Please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for topics to cover.