classpectlab:

Originally written by @scalematey, for ClasspectLab’s Task 1.0, 2016.

---

Being a Witch is in my blood: it runs through my veins, every word that comes off the tip of my damned tongue is that of a Witch. For me, it’s not the fancy tricks or the sparkles hidden up my sleeves, it’s the hard graft and making the hard choices and the aggressive fight for what’s right that’s the undercurrent of my very soul.

It’s taking a look at something, anything and thinking, I know how to make this better. It’s that conviction that there is some good in this world, and that if you try hard enough, maybe you can make enough of a difference to get it to be the way that you can see it being. It’s the choice to step out of line and do what you think is right. It’s the idea that you can change. It’s the idea that you can change. And it’s the idea that you can change.

The thing is, it’s this idea that creates the responsibility here. Being a Witch means that there are times where you will stay up to 1am not just trying to console, but to give advice to a friend in pain. It means being critical, sometimes even too critical, of the flaws of even those closest to you. And it means bringing those up against your better judgement. Because you want them to be better than this, and you think you know how.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” That said, being a Witch doesn’t just mean throwing yourself at things haphazardly until they make sense. It means that you need to know yourself from the inside out, to come to terms with every single one of your own failings and then to learn about everything else. It means that you need to understand what’s there before you can change it. Rule one of this world is that you know jack shit. Rule number two is that so does everyone else. And until you build yourself from the ground up, you can’t make anyone else do that either.

Even then, being a Witch means that if you fuck up, it’s all on you.

With great power, comes great responsibility, and that’s the most important thing you need to learn. You have the potential to do so much, and you care about so much, but it also means that any impact that you make is a direct result of your own actions, and while any positive change you make is your own work, all of your fuck-ups will come back to haunt you, because you’re the one who made them. Ownership is key here, because without it, you’re going to keep making the same mistakes. Learn. Develop. The thing that needs changing the most sometimes is yourself.

At the end of the day, it’s about balance. It’s about drive. It’s about taking that first step off the cliff, not for the power or for the glory, but because you think it’s the right thing to do. And that’s the most dangerous part of it all — not just for you, but for everyone else as well.