10. Magic - Intention
Intention is desire with direction.
Intention is desire with direction, the imbuing of your thought and activity with purpose. It is the way we can shape worlds in a manner of our choosing. Although it is not the only force acting upon our lives in a given moment, it is a central source of momentum and brings much to bear on the outcomes we experience.
Much of what we do every day is automatic and unintentional. For example, many of us wake up and groggily stumble to the bathroom without giving a thought to the dawning of a new day, and the gift of time we have before us to fill with living, before night falls and we go back to a state of relative dormancy. However, it is possible to introduce intention into any process, enabling us to move through our daily lives with intention just as easily as we do without.
In the example of morning routines, the late Buddhist monk and spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh advised that we begin each day with gratitude for our wonderful human life. Babaylan Evelie Delfino Sales Posch suggests we breathe deeply and stretch when we wake up to bring oxygen and wakefulness to the whole body, while yogi BKS Iyengar recommends that we arise an hour earlier than normal to make time for a morning yoga practice.1
Intentions can be emotional (I will start my day with gratitude), practical (I will breathe and stretch my body when I wake), or a combination (I will breathe and stretch my body when I wake to help me begin the day with gratitude). Each kind of intention has value; consider and apply what suits your needs in the moment. No matter the method we adopt, the intention that leads to action is what it takes to make tomorrow morning different from today.
While we must also account for changing circumstances, intention is the primary means by which we can personally influence whether the next iteration of an act is the same as, or different from, the last. It is the source of planned change in one's routines, emotional responses, habits, beliefs and behaviours, the collection of which comprise one's entire life. Thus, intention is the source of inner - and eventually outer - change. Growth in intentionality demonstrates a qualitative increase in one’s conscious awareness of being alive.
Intention involves choice. When we set an intention we are setting our minds upon a certain goal or task that we have identified as beneficial to us and/or those around us. This act of choosing is sacred, because it is the difference between determining our lives to the extent possible, or living like automatons lacking agency to make decisions in the processes that affect us. As such, mystics are called to continually sharpen our discernment, or the skill of evaluating between various options, which generally leads to making better choices.
While we might not be able to directly or dramatically alter circumstances in which we find ourselves, we are in control of our choices, and the systems and processes we use to support our choosing. Therefore, establishing a reflective practice that helps us to say Yes and No with clarity and confidence, as outlined by Sabrina Hersi Issa, is a good place to begin. Through repetition, discernment will be buoyed by strengthened intuition, which draws upon history, both personal and structural, to help us navigate the unknown.
An intention is a seed that is planted in the hope that something precious will grow, upon which we expect to be able to build so as to carry our lives forward into the future. We make choices carefully because we believe they are worthwhile, that they are the right thing to do and that they will lead to an outcome that is an improvement over what exists in the moment. Thus, to do anything in an intentional way is an act of faith.
Further Reading/Resources
Iyengar, B.K.S. (2008) Light on Life: The Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace and Ultimate Freedom. Emmaus: Rodale.