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Welcome to The Nuance Diaries! Unfiltered alchemy from your most unhinged group chat.
If this is your first time here, I’m Alexa. Writer, Coach, Human, Native New Yorker, Gilmore Girls Aficionado.
My magic is creating something out of nothng — wildly compelling stories out of thin air. I love helping people take center stage and remember that they are the main characters of their own lives. I also love being super unfiltered in writing about my life and the world around me, which is what I do here!
Consider my vulnerability a permission slip for yours :)
If you haven't already, go subscribe here! While you're there, you can always read/listen on Substack if you prefer :)
SPOILERS AHEAD. SPOILERS AHEAD. SO MANY SPOILERS. THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. DID YOU READ THIS? HAVE YOU SEEN PRACTICAL MAGIC 2? DO YOU CARE ABOUT SPOILERS? YOU SHOULD!
1. You can’t ignore the past
The more you struggle, the more hold the spell has on you. - Nicole Kidman as Gilly.
2. It’s dangerous to hide your magic.
“We are never doing anyone any favors by withholding our gifts from the world. It’s scary to be fierce, but you can’t compromise that for fear of losing those around you.” - Idina Menzel
*Idina is definitely talking about losing people, as in losing relationships, but this quote is really fitting because in the context of Practical Magic, the Owens sisters do fear literally losing people because of their gifts/magic.
Sally has had a complicated relationship with her magic since the first movie and book.
She fears it and hides it. She finds it and doubts it.
In Practical Magic 2, she is taught a hard lesson about her magic at an incredibly inconvenient time: the more you doubt yourself, the less power you have.
Since we last saw Sally, she has pushed her magic down so far that she can’t find it when she needs it most.
She can’t sense her daughter, Kylie, when she runs off with the book of the raven. She has to rely on a credit card transaction to pin Kylie down, after many, many missed calls.
Once Sally is in London, closer to Kylie, she does find her magic again. But she has a lot of trouble wielding it.
She can’t (fully) help Jilly reverse the paralysis spell on Ian Wright. Instead, she looked on, terrified.
Enter doubt.
For almost the entire movie, we watch Sally run around in such a frenzy, desperate to find her daughter. But really, she’s on a journey to find herself again and own her magic.
And the second she does that, about 3/4 in? Everything comes naturally again.
She breaks down doors and deals with a man practicing dark magic with the skills of a practiced hostage negotiator. She’s ready to lay down her life for her daughter, but thankfully doesn’t have to. She is powerful, courageous, and strong as hell. Not because she suddenly became powerful, but because she remembered that she always was.
You always had the power, my dear; you just had to see it for yourself. - Glinda the Good, Wizard of Oz
The consequences of denying our own magic might not be quite as dire as they are for Sally, but they are still dangerous and dire nonetheless.
Like Sally, we too build up walls and rack up long lists of worthwhile reasons why we must keep our lives small and safe. And maybe those reasons are valid.
But at the end of the day, there is no good excuse to abandon your magic forever.
You might not be the descendant of an English witch (by way of Boston), but you do have your own special magic that makes you you.
Maybe it’s your art. Or your empathy. Or your strength. We all have something that makes us powerful and special.
If you’re reading this thinking — no, I don’t. I’m just normal old [insert name here]
It sounds like it might be time for you to go on a quest of your own to rediscover that magic of yours.
It’s out there. Trust me. And I’m biased, but I think it’s worth the journey.
3. Grief comes for us all, and we all grieve differently.
Nobody escapes a love story without death. - Sally Owens
4. Give grace to the ones you love. Even when they make it exceptionally hard.
Even though you hate me right now, I’ve got you. I’ve always got you. - Nicole Kidman as Gilly
5. Live a little. Live a lot
Have some internal AND external ‘POW’, as Kylie and Antonia say.
++ AND Bonuses!!
We would also all be better off in a matriarchy. No explanation needed.
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