Alright folks, grab a coffee, settle in. Today I wanna talk about this whole "spiritual alchemy" thing popping up everywhere online. Honestly? At first I thought it was all fancy talk, you know? Who actually needs this stuff? But curiosity got me. Figured I'd dig in myself, see if there was any juice to squeeze out.
How I Started Playing With This Idea
Started simple. Real simple. Woke up one Tuesday feeling kinda… blah. Ground down by routine, bills, the usual noise. Staring at the coffee machine brewing, I thought, "Right, let's treat today like some kinda experiment." Wasn't sure what that meant, but I rolled with it.
First step? Just noticing. Like really noticing. What makes me feel heavy? What makes that little lift inside? No judgment, just scribbling stuff down in my old notebook. Stuck in traffic? Heavy. Watching those birds go nuts at the feeder? Lift. Big bill? Heavy. Making my kid laugh for no reason? Huge lift.
- Got specific: What exactly made me feel crummy? What exactly gave me that buzz?
- Wrote it raw: Didn't pretty it up. Just "boss email annoying AF" or "sunlight on my hands felt warm. Nice."
Felt a bit daft at first, writing down dumb little things. But then patterns showed up. Lot of heaviness tied to deadlines, expectations, rushing. Lifts came from tiny moments of connection, quiet, or just getting lost in doing something with my hands.
Where Things Got Weird (In a Good Way?)
Okay, here’s where it might sound a bit out there. I decided to consciously play with the "lead." Not real lead, mind you! Just the heavy stuff. Like that gnawing feeling before a big work meeting.
Instead of just stressing, I tried something different. Sat with it for a minute before the Zoom call. Just acknowledged, "Yep, this feels like crap. Heavy. Worried I'll sound dumb." Didn't fight it. Weirdly, just naming it loosened its grip a tiny bit.
Then, tried to remember that little lift from the birds earlier. Really brought back that feeling. That tiny space helped me walk into the call feeling less like a knot.
Kept at it:
- Spot the heavy feeling. Name it simply ("sad," "annoyed," "scared"). Don't argue with it.
- Then, deliberately recall something light. Like really try to feel it again for 10 seconds. Kids laughing, taste of coffee, favorite song riff.
Started noticing the heaviness wasn't always this solid block. It shifted. Sometimes focusing on a tiny lift even while feeling heavy… it felt like they were kinda chatting, mixing. Hard to explain.
The Practical Takeaway? For Me, Anyway.
Who needs spiritual alchemy? Honestly? Maybe just regular folks like me, grinding through days, feeling pulled under sometimes.
It’s not about magic turning lead into actual gold overnight. Found zero philosopher's stone! But, treating my messy daily junk – the stress, worry, frustration – like potential material? Instead of just stuff to avoid?
- Stopped feeling powerless: Seeing my reactions as stuff I could work with, not just suffer through.
- Found tiny moments of relief: That intentional swapping, even for seconds, carved out breathing room.
- Got curious: Instead of just being mad traffic sucks, I got curious why it bugged me so much (lost time? lack of control?). That helped.
The biggest shift? Recognizing this "alchemy" wasn't some special club with secret passwords. It was just a dumb metaphor for paying attention to my own crap and trying to shift it, bit by bit, using whatever tiny sparks of good I could find. It’s messy kitchen sink alchemy, not lab-grade. But hey, it’s helping. One heavy feeling and tiny lift at a time. Anyone can play with that.
