One question we're constantly asked is “Why do you wish?”, so we decided to sit down and find out.
Barbara: So Margie, why do you wish?
Margie: Today I engage in the practice of wish work because it helps me clarify what is important to me and what I want more of in my life. It opens me to feel gratitude for others and, in general, for the benevolence of the Universe.
Barbara: How did you get started with wishing?
Margie: My first memory of wishing was “prayer wishing”. I would have conversations with Baby Jesus and share what I wanted. One time, I prayed (wished) to dance on stage because I saw a young girl dancing on The Ed Sullivan Show and thought that would be really cool! The next thing I know, the nuns at my school decided to have a St. Patrick’s Day Festival and taught us some Irish dancing that we performed on stage!
Barbara: How cool is that!? And that is how you began the wish practice you continue today?
Margie: Well, there were a few hiccups along the way. For example, my grandmother used to say, “Be careful what you wish for because you might get it,” by which she meant you could wish for something and then get it, but it wasn’t what you really wanted.
Hers was a rather negative message to discourage me from getting my hopes up, only to be disappointed. This provided a cautionary note, but didn’t stop me from wishing for things and realizing that they would come true in wonderful ways I couldn't imagine.
Barbara: What did you do with your grandmother’s wisdom?
Margie: To this day I remember what she said and that is why the wish practice we have developed is so important to me. In her “grandmotherly” way, she was teaching me to make sure what I wished for is really what I wanted. That helped me to understand that I needed to clarify what I really wanted more of in my life. Our wish work today is a manifestation of my wish for more effective ways to achieve that.
Now, next time, Barbara, let’s hear from you about why you wish!
Barbara: OK!
Photo Credit
The photo featured in this post was taken by (and is copyrighted by) Margaret A. Herrick.