“Do they poison the dragon, or just the liver?”
~ Paul in Bedknobs & Broomsticks
It’s been a funny old few weeks over here. It’s been hot, the cicadas are up and at ’em (someone tested them at almost rock concert levels!), and I have been experiencing some concentration challenges. When I have trouble concentrating, I often start scrolling. This lets me feel like I am doing something when really I am just creating more challenges for my focus muscles. A moment ago, for instance, despite my 47 item to-do list, I suddenly found myself surfing Pinterest for colour palettes. Colour palettes? Is that one of the 47 things I was hoping to get done? No, but it made me feel like I was doing something.
Silly me.
The other thing that has been happening is that my social media feeds are full-to-bursting with ads that slightly resemble something I might have looked for once. Ads for Growing My ‘Biz’, Six-Figures Promises, Insta-famousness, and Marketing telling me how to Market burst from the screen at every opportunity.
Because of afore-mentioned numb scrolling happening, yesterday I found myself actually hovering over a Learn More button under a dude telling me about his method for manifesting. Even when I came to my senses, I couldn’t understand why I felt so yuck.
And then I realized what it was. It was Poisoned Dragon’s Liver.
Have you seen the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks with Angela Lansbury?
[Warning: spoilers below.]
Lansbury plays Miss Price, who is learning how to be a witch. One of the early scenes has a trio of children poking around the shelves of her storeroom, and one of them finds a jar of Poisoned Dragon’s Liver. It’s a perfect way for us – the viewers – to see that she really is a witch.
Cut to the end of the movie and Miss Price says: “l realised some time ago that l could never be a proper witch… lt was the day my poisoned dragon’s liver arrived. l knew that anyone who felt the way l did about poisoned dragon’s liver had no business being a witch.”
I realised that anyone who feels the way that I do about marketing funnels has no business trying to funnel their marketing. (Hear this: there is nothing wrong with marketing funnels if marketing funnels feel good for you, or if they make sense in your business. It just doesn’t do it for ME.)
But that really didn’t have to be the end of the story for her magic. Dear Miss Price could have remained a witch. She could have created a witch-ness that did feel good for her, or a magical life that had nothing to do with poisoned dragon’s liver. She could have listened as much to her yes-ness as she did to her no-ness. From there she could have figured out her own path, rather than following the path laid out for her by some guy with a book.
There is a meme out there that says: “I want a simple life. I want to get up late, drink tea, and read old books. I also want a spaceship and a pet dragon.”* I can’t tell you how many people sent that to me. (So many that I am seriously writing a book about it.) But almost all of the people who sent it to me told me what else they would want. They said, “plus chocolate” or “and dogs/ cats” or “no spaceship, but give me a dock and a boat.”
My point is you know. You know what feels good. You know what feels bad. You know what you have no business doing. You know what would feel like a good pursuit. You know where your skills are and where your skills are not, and where you could learn and where it’s really not for you.
You know what feels like magic for you. Listen to that. You know what is True. Listen to your feelings – all of them, not just the no’s – and follow them. Understand them. Pay attention to them. Show up for them. Don’t let your fears close you off to a whole realm of possibility, because one thing feels wrong. Find a path for you that feels right.
Follow your instincts. Create a life that feels good more than it doesn’t. There’s magic in just doing that.
As for me, I’m creating a business that scares me a little and inspires me a lot, but doesn’t make me feel yuck. It’s going to include a lot less poisoned dragon’s liver and lot more pet dragon.
I can’t wait to share more of it with you.
With so much love,
P.S. This was originally a newsletter. I write those way more often than blog posts! For more like this, I’d love it if you signed up here.
* If you know the original creator of that meme, please let me know!
We’ve now been on this adventure for nearly three months. Although it had been coming for a lot longer, I am choosing to start the clock on the first day that we really stepped into the unknown; the first day we began to run on faith.
rabbit hole. We have left the safe, the known, the pleasant, all because we followed a 