While doing some research for potential sponsors/partners for my future podcast and stage production, I decided (considering the amount of wine, my audience demographic probably consumes! Don’t shoot the messenger!) that statistically,I should consider some female or minority-owned wine brands. Years ago, through a friend, I was introduced to the McBride Sisters. (Not physically, but their company. At the time, there was talk of a TV show. Not sure what happened! I still love the idea.)
Until recently, I had never actually tried the wine. I was just really fascinated by their story. Two sisters raised continents apart, both in the wine biz, but neither knowing the other existed! You can read their story on their site. AFTER YOU FINISH MY POST!
https://www.mcbridesisters.com/Sisters-Story
I finally decided to purchase and try a bottle of their wine. I visited their site before making my decision. There it was. The obvious choice!
Black Girl Magic
Exceptional wine for exceptional women.
“Black Girl Magic is more than a phrase. It’s a feeling. A look. A mood. A taste. The McBride Sisters Collection Black Girl Magic Wines are Robin and Andréa’s personal ode to their culture and story, inspired by the magic and resilience of Black women, to be enjoyed by all.”
Perfect choice. I grabbed a bottle and it sat lonely in the rack until one Thursday night a few weeks ago. Well, let me tell you, they did not misrepresent. It was an exceptional wine. Thinking about their amazing story, I was inspired to break out what my sister refers to as my magic notebook and create some Black Girl Magic myself!
That said, race has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I write to inspire ALL. I just happen to be a black girl with a so-called magic notebook. (Ironically, my so-called magic notebook is always BLACK, but I will explain. That’s not racial either!)
The accounting professional in me will just not allow me to write in a red notebook! You want to be “in the black and profitable” financially, so I just got in the habit of buying black notebooks. If you looked inside my purse, (But please don’t! It is quite scary in there!) you will always see a few notebooks. There is usually a separate one for creative writing. Typically, symbolically green (meaning I hope one day to make a little green from it.) or orange, my favorite color, just because it makes me happy.
In one, you will find a never-ending, constantly updated, to-do list. There are numerous pages that have Mon – Friday written on them. Next to each day is a list of things I MUST accomplish. There’s a column I create on the right with a free-style, often crooked horizontal line, with things I HOPE to accomplish, but less urgent.
About halfway through, I will fold a page over (My version of a divider or tab!) and this is where the so-called magic happens. This is where the goals meet dreams. This is where I write the things I want to manifest. (Goals. Dreams.)
Now, I don’t by any means think the notebook is magic, but I do think there is something magic about “WRITING THINGS DOWN.” Maybe, it’s just seeing something in writing repeatedly. Once I revisit the notes, I start thinking about them. Which brings me back to the power and possibility of thoughts.
Gandhi said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.” (Or woman! A Benz owner and a beach bum! I will explain.)
I’m a big believer in “writing things down.” When we write things down, we enter a world of possibility. Writing things down helps your mind to focus on what you feel is important.
For instance, and this is NOT a flex. I once wrote down years ago that a Mercedes Benz would be my next car. I didn’t need a car that I recall. I had no plans to buy a car, yet a few months later, I ended up with a Benz. That wasn’t the first time I wrote something down and it showed up. I always dreamed of living at the beach. For four years I did. At that time, the probability of my living at the beach, was slim to none. I’m sure many years ago, I wrote I wanted to live in LA. I probably didn’t know a soul at the time. Had zero job prospects. I just knew one day, I wanted to live there. A few years later, a friend moved there, started a company, and offered me a job. I had a bunch of new friends there I had met at a conference and off I went!
Now you might think, “shallow! Why was a Benz important to her?” For one, I thought they were beautiful, well-built machines. They were one of the safest cars at the time. (Before they were made in the US of plastic!) I also worked hard and felt I deserved to drive a nice, comfortable, and safe car. I didn’t want it so I could “front” or impress. I wanted it because I felt that it was what I deserved. And considering the amount of time I was spending in my car; a nice ride would make it less painful! At the time, that was important to me. Quite frankly, it still is.
But back to the power of writing things down! Whenever you write things down, you are focused on what you are writing. Those words create intent.
While I might not think of the notebook as magic, I think of the notes inside as magic. I now assume what I write down in my book it is already done. You could say that the notes are my messages to the universe.
So, is there a relationship between writing down your goals, dreams, and desires, and actually manifesting them? I have to say, in my experience, the answer is YES. Have I achieved everything that I wrote in my notebooks? Not yet. (Probably because I lost the notebook!) But I’m still here. There’s still time. And unfortunately, the universe doesn’t run by my watch!
But there are other benefits to writing things down. With my to-do lists, there is a sense of accomplishment when you cross things off the list! It feels productive. It feels good! And we should take all the good feelings we can get! They lead to other good feelings.
According to a study done by Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University in California, by writing down your goals and sharing them with a friend, (Which I’m sure I torture my close friends with!) you are 62% more likely to accomplish them. I’ll take those odds!
Individuals have also demonstrated increased ability to remember things by writing things down as opposed to just reading something. Neuropsychologists call it the “generation effect.” Writing your goals is like a two-fer. You access this “generation effect” twice. Once, when you decide or generate the goal in your mind, creating a mental image or picture. And a second time when you write it down, because you must think about that mental image again.
So, once again, it comes down to thoughts! You had to have a thought before you wrote it down. While my notebook might not be magic, perhaps thoughts are.
I’m not sure I did much writing that evening. I’m not sure I created any magic that night, but I damn sure drank some! I guess you could say I focused on that wine and accomplished my goal.
