Embracing Your Magical Specialness—A Gut Punch

Or… So What If They Didn’t Get You? Embrace Your Inner Magic Anyway

I was scrolling through Facebook (as one does when avoiding laundry and the existential question of what to cook for dinner) when I saw an ad from Gregg Braden. I don’t usually pause for sponsored posts, but this one said something about “embracing your specialness.”

And just like that, I got this punch-in-the-gut sort of feeling. Not the kind that means I’m coming down with something, but the emotional kind. The kind that says: “Hello there, suppressed childhood grief here! Just popping up to say hi!”

Right then, I realized how little my parents ever embraced my specialness. In fact, my mother treated it like something embarrassing, like spinach in your teeth or talking too loudly in church. 

I was the weird kid (my mother often told me) who believed in magic, talked to animals, and thought the trees were whispering secrets (they were!).

She wanted me to put curlers in my hair, learn how to type (so I could be some guy-in-a-suit’s secretary), and wear scratchy dresses with shiny, buckled shoes. I wanted to be a druid hippy priestess and write poetry about clouds.

She just didn’t get me—at all!

Now, this isn’t about blame. My mom had her own set of wounds and beliefs and 1950s-style user manuals for what a child was “supposed” to be. But still—when your sparkle is met with side-eye and tight-lipped disapproval, it plants a seed. A weird, thorny seed that whispers, “Better shut that down if you want to be accepted.”

So, what do we do when our foundational caretakers didn’t celebrate our weird and wonderful selves? When our unicorn hooves were shackled before we even had a chance to gallop?

We re-parent ourselves. We go back with the magic of hindsight, humor, and maybe a little chocolate, and we give our inner child the permission slip no one else ever did.

We tell ourselves:

• You are allowed to be magical.
• You are allowed to be different.
• You are allowed to sparkle so bright it makes other people squint.

Here’s how I’ve started doing that. Maybe you’ll want to try it too.

1. Write a love letter to your inner little weirdo.
   Find a photo of yourself as a kid (bonus points if you’re wearing something totally fabulous and uncoordinated), and write to that version of you. Tell her everything you love about her. Her big imagination. Her sense of wonder. Her refusal to be normal.

Remind her that being “too weird” was just being fully herself.

2. Let yourself play again.
   Buy the crayons. Wear the glitter (biodegradable glitter of course). Dance in the kitchen even if your dog looks concerned. Whatever it is you used to love before someone told you to “grow up,” bring a little of that back. Your inner child doesn’t need therapy as much as she needs a coloring book and a fun hat.

3. 

   Say the words out loud.
   “I’m proud of you.”
   “You’re amazing just the way you are.”
   “You don’t have to earn love by being ‘normal.’”

Say them in the mirror if you can. Say them through tears. Say them with snacks. But say them. Because the voice you hear the most often is your own, and it’s about time she joined the pro-you team.

4. Ditch the Normal Olympics.
   You’re not here to win a gold medal in conformity. If your joy looks like moon-charged crystals and talking trees, then that’s what joy looks like for you. Someone else’s approval isn’t the finish line. Self-acceptance is.
5. Let your magic be visible.
   Whether that means finally launching your unicorn-themed art biz or just allowing yourself to not explain away the woo-woo parts of yourself in conversations—start letting your real self peek out more. That’s how your true clan finds you. The ones who love you because of your magic, not in spite of it.
6. Create Visual Permission Slips.
   I do it on Midjourney with “face swap” software. I can make myself appear magical or powerful or any way I choose. Let me know if you want me to create a Visual Permission Slip for you. How do you want to see yourself? Claim it!

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Parents—bless them—don’t always have the capacity to see us clearly. Maybe they never really do. Especially if they were never seen clearly themselves. But our worth doesn’t vanish just because someone else didn’t recognize it. That’s like saying the sun doesn’t shine unless someone’s looking at it. (Spoiler: it totally does.)

You don’t need a permission slip from the past to be extraordinary now.

So yes, maybe my mom frowned at my metaphysical explorations and side-eyed my love for faery magic. But I’m learning to laugh with that little girl inside me, the one who believed in the unseen and collected feathers like holy relics. I’m learning to tell her, “You were right. The world is magical. And you are too.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a faery mug filled with hot chocolate and a playlist of Celtic harp music waiting for me. Inner child healing is hard work. And also very rewarding.

Maybe you can relate…

Ready to Embrace Your Magic?

If you’re craving a space where your sparkle is celebrated—not squashed—come join us in Faehallows Magical Moon Circle.

It’s a cozy, mystical twice-monthly gathering on Zoom where we:

• Set intentions with the New Moon 🌑
• Release and renew with the Full Moon 🌕
• Connect with kindred spirits who totally get our love of faery magic, synchronicities, and sacred self-care 💫
• And most importantly—practice embracing our specialness together, one lunar cycle at a time ✨

No curlers required. Just your beautiful, magical self—just the way you are!

💫 Click here to join us or learn more >> https://www.celticmysteryschool.com/membership/