- Be careful what you wish for
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Wishful thinking
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If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
These expressions carry a sense of scorn toward the act of wishing, as if wishing is something that should be reserved for children blowing out birthday candles or tossing shiny pennies into a fountain. But is wishing really limited to the realm of children? Is there a particular way we can make a wish that will propel it toward fruition? Can an educated adult make wishes, with any certainty that they will be fulfilled?
Noelle Oxenhandler sets out to find the answers to these questions in The Wishing Year, her memoir of a calendar year in which she wished for three very specific things: a house, a significant love, and spiritual healing.
Oxenhandler states in the opening pages of the book that she is a skeptic about the power of wishing. She overcomes her skepticism, and her skills as a researcher shine as she takes on the task of methodical reading, interviews, site visits and analysis of the methods of people who make earnest wishes.
Being quite a skeptic myself, I was unwilling to engage in the various rituals of wishing that Oxenhandler experimented with, such as the belief that a wish of eight one-syllable words is most effective, or that a Sacagawea coin can make a wart disappear. She, however, is successfully able to connect these rituals of today with the ceremonies of the ancient people, showing the reader that the process of wishing has always been with us.
Rather than engage in the research passages of the book, I was tremendously taken with personal narrative Oxenhandler shares. She writes in the present tense, drawing us into her life, as we get to know her, her friends and colleagues, and various personalities she encounters on her quest. She is forthcoming with her emotions as the year progresses, from the positive energy she feels as her wishes move forward, to the sadness that overcomes her as she watches helplessly as a friend becomes ill and her own mother’s health falters.
At the end of The Wishing Year, Oxenhandler concludes that her experiment has been a success: she has gained greater self knowledge and tapped the power of wishing to bring herself to a new stage in her life. I found her life and lifestyle interesting and kept routing for her to attain her wishes. I agree with Oxenhandler that no harm can come of believing in the power of wishing; a positive outlook combined with common sense will help you reach your goals, she has inspired me to project this into my own life.
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