What does Universe, Amaze Me actually mean?

I've been saying these three words for years now. Sometimes out loud, sometimes just a thought while I'm making coffee. People who've followed my work with Pellowah or read Light Walks will have heard me say it before, it's become a kind of shorthand for how I try to move through the world. But I don't think I've ever properly sat down and explained what I actually mean by it, or what it looks like to try and live inside it day to day. So that's what this column is.

The whole thing, in three words

Universe, amaze me.

It's not a wish. A wish asks for something specific. This asks for nothing specific at all. It's an open door, not a shopping list.

That's the whole philosophy. Everything else, the healing work, the books, the music, is just what happens when you actually try to live by it.

Where it came from

I didn't sit down and invent a mantra. It came out of a period where I was so busy planning and striving and ticking boxes that I'd stopped looking up. One day I nearly walked straight past something genuinely beautiful because I was three steps ahead in my own head, already worrying about the next thing.

That was the moment. Not a lightning bolt. A correction.

What it actually means

It's an instruction to your attention, not to the universe. Nothing out there changes when you say it. What changes is where you're looking. Most of us scan our days for problems, because that's what we're built to do. This flips the scan. You start looking for what might catch you off guard in a good way instead. And when you look for that, you find it more than you'd expect.

It only works if you loosen your grip. You can't demand amazement on your own terms. The second you specify what the surprise should look like, you're back to writing a wish list, and you'll miss the real thing because you're too busy checking it against your order form. Living by this means holding plans loosely. Not dropping them. Just leaving room.

It's not a substitute for effort. This is where I part ways with a lot of manifestation talk. I'm not asking the universe to do the work for me. I still show up. Still write, still make music, still do the unglamorous admin nobody sees. Amaze me isn't instead of the work. It's what you say while you're doing it, so you don't miss the good bits along the way.

It turns ordinary days into something worth noticing. A stranger says exactly the right thing at exactly the right moment. A song answers a question you'd been quietly sitting with. A shape-shifting lion turns up in your imagination and years later becomes a book that helps a kid who feels like they don't fit anywhere. None of it arrives labelled "significant." You have to be looking to catch it.

Try it yourself

Say it once tomorrow morning. No ceremony required. Then spend the day actually watching for what turns up. Write it down if that helps, even one line at night. Most people are startled by how much they'd normally have walked straight past.

That's the whole practice.

Universe, amaze me. Then get out of your own way and let it.