A Harry Potter fan I am not.

Yet Lauren is a fan.

A big fan!

So much so that last Christmas I was gently encouraged to join her and sit through a Harry Potter marathon of all eight films over a period of about three weeks.

And, when I thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, I was also encouraged (slightly less gently this time) to grin and bear the three Fantastic Beasts movies too.

I can’t say I enjoyed them all that much.  

But a few bits got forever lodged in my frosty brain as the Potter-thon trundled on.

Like, for instance, finding out about the Patronus Charm.

The way I see it, the Patronus Charm is the grand-daddy of all the spells and charms. 

The charm is so complex that only the most skilled wizards can summon it and use it to defend themselves against the dreaded dementors.

(how am I doing so far Lauren?)

The bit which piqued my curiosity was how the Patronus Charm gets conjured.

Harry asked some chap called Remus Lupin this very question in one of the films:

Harry:  And how do you conjure it?

Remus:  With an incantation which will work only if you are concentrating with all your might on a single, very happy memory

Once cast, the charm then appears as a silvery-white animal apparition.

So if you’re taking a stroll down Diagon Alley and you see an animal apparition, it means there’s a wizard nearby having a happy thought.  There’s nowhere else the Patronus Charm can come from.

Anyway, that’s the Harry Potter lesson over.  Class dismissed.

Here’s the most interesting thing about all this:

We all have our own Patronus Charm.  Every single one of us has a way to tell when we’re having a happy thought.

And, for that matter, when we’re having a sad, calm, distressing, peaceful, anxious, stressful or exhilarating thought.

(I could go on, but you get the idea)

We have a different name for these charms though.

We simply call them feelings.

And what I’m suggesting is that the only place that any feeling can come from is a thought.

I know this might sound kooky.

But my claim is that the outside world can never make us feel anything.  Only our thoughts can.

So it's not our overflowing inbox or to-do list which stresses us out.  It’s our thoughts about our overflowing inbox or to-do list.

It’s not Jude Bellingham scoring one of England’s greatest ever goals with less than 60 seconds on the clock which causes a curious mixture of joy & relief. It’s our thoughts about Jude Bellingham scoring that goal.

And it’s not sitting through 26+ hours of Harry Potter which leaves me stoically slumped on the sofa. It’s my thoughts about sitting through 26+ hours of Harry Potter.

To my mind, this is good to know.

If how we feel is a function of what we’re thinking, it means we don’t need to take any situation that seriously.  Life becomes more dance, less battle.

Because if we have the power to think, we also have the power to think again.

Which means how we’re feeling can change quick as a flash.  And how we relate to any and all situations can change just as quickly.

Anyway, this is just scratching the surface.  The implications of this understanding go far and wide.

Admittedly that this isn’t a run-of-the-mill idea.  We live in a world which tells us our circumstances are a source of feelings and we don’t really question this.  Or even notice that there might be something to question in the first place.

But that doesn’t mean this idea isn’t true.

As the famous Nietzsche quote goes:

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music

Cue my coaching. 

It’s a way to turn up the volume on the music of life and help you dance to your own beat.

Potter on over here if you’d like to find out more:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

That’s all for today.

 - Tom