Dragonfly-With-Open-WingsOkay, so when we last met, I’d been visited four days in a row by a fetching fetch of dragonflies.

When my fairy-dusted friends finally flew away, I must admit, some of my old “abandonment issues” cropped up.

(You know that you’re destined for a lifetime of therapy, when you get your feelings hurt by insects.)

To keep the memory alive, I painted them. I wrote about them. And talked about them to anyone who would listen.

Then, my post-dragonfly bliss was rudely interrupted by the Gnats of Everyday Life.

You know, those pesty little problems that aren’t a matter of life and death. But they sure zap a lot of energy and can really mess up your mojo.

Like when our son Landon came home from camp with a big bag of dirty laundry. And an even 15 year old Attitude. (Trust me, mud stains are easier to get rid of.)

Then, there was our so-called “vacation” up in the Bay Area.

Zig-zagging from Marin to Oakland to San Francisco to spend “quality time” with family and friends took more out of us than most work days.

Meanwhile, back at home, Mercury was in retrograde. The printer crashed twice. The toilet ran a marathon.

And I got four tiny bug bites that itched like FOUR HUMUNGOUS ONES.

Hmmm…maybe those gnats weren’t just a metaphor. It says right here that they bite and are also called “midges”. Who knew?

I do know that life is a constant dance between dragonfly magic and gnat reality.

A night of mad, passionate love is sure to be followed by a morning of really bad breath.

And since most of can’t travel to India to seek enlightenment, our lives tend to be more like Eat. Pray. Pick Up Dog Poop.

Here are some things that have helped me cope with the transition from the magical to the mundane:

1. Feel your feelings. It’s normal to feel let down after a high—whether you’ve birthed a baby, accomplished a goal or had an epiphany. Give yourself time to feel disappointed, resentful and/or overwhelmed when your world turns back into a pumpkin. When we allow our real feelings to surface, we make room for more magic. (I’ve found that luxuriating in my funk is the only way to get out of it.)

2. Be one with the duality. Remind yourself that it’s not an either/or proposition. As nice as it feels to put things into neat little manilla folders, life just doesn’t work that way. We humans manifest magic and scoop poop.The trick is not getting too attached to either one. (I’m working on it. Check with me next lifetime.)

3. Listen to Mother. There’s no better teacher than Nature. Everywhere you look, she gives us graceful examples of duality. The tide ebbs and flows. Flowers blossom and wilt. Trees reach up to the heavens while rooted in earth. (I want to be like them when I grow up.)

4. Envision the magic.After my dragonflies flew away, I “just so happened” to find an old dragonfly earring in my drawer and hung it on my altar. Then, my Mom sent me a dragonfly garden stake. And my friend Janine gave me a dragonfly necklace. As I trudge through the mundane, these symbols remind me that the magic still exists.

5. Breathe in the magic. When you’re lying in bed or meditating, see and feel yourself back in those magical moments. Breathe the wonder, exhilaration and joy —-right into your heart. Every breath will keep it living inside of you.

So, what about you? How do you remember the magic of dragonflies when you’re being bugged by gnats?