Finding Magic
The day after Christmas my daughter, husband, sister, mom, and I went to a local toy store to buy my daughter her very own rainbow loom. For those of you not familiar with this craze, they are little, colorful rubber bands with a plastic loom for making bracelets and rings. Though I am not positive, I think they multiply when no one is looking.
My son, Will, got one for Christmas, but my daughter, Phoebe, did not. After a day of arguments and tantrums over the loom, I decided Phoebe needed her very own (if not for her enjoyment than certainly for my sanity.) And now there are small colorful elastic bands everywhere...from the carpet in the family room to the bathroom floor to the cat's bowl in the kitchen.
But as we walked out of the toy store that day, a moment of magic occurred. Magic is in the eye of the beholder, perhaps, but seeing Phoebe dressed in her fluorescent pink jacket leave the store while tiny white cotton balls of snow dropped from the clouds felt like pure skin-tingling magic to me. It was not in the forecast, but there it was, little flurries of snow fairies trailing a hush of quiet over our awestruck eyes.
And like the tiny elastics, magic and miracles are everywhere. Both require us to believe, trust, and perhaps put rational thinking aside for a moment. And also like the elastics, magic can multiply.
Earlier this season, the first time we drove down a street in our town where every single front yard and house was lit with white lights, Phoebe exclaimed with a sweet sigh, “Oh it’s so magical.”
It was a reminder to me to wipe away the skepticism and clear some space for child-eyed curiosity, imagination, and appreciation. We can ask, open up to, recognize, pray, hope, and most importantly, thank magic for falling all around us.
And much of the time magic is fleeting. But sometimes it sticks, blanketing everything in an ocean of calm, sparkly wonderment. I have a feeling today may be one of those days, and I can’t wait to play in it!
One of my favorite ways to invite a little miracle or magic into my day is to do what author and artist, SARK, calls “miracle walks.” She says, “Miracles find me now,” as she begins her stroll. And then she patiently remains open to any sign, feeling, or vision. Extraordinary experiences reside in the ordinary moments that make up our days, and you deserve one. So go grab yourself a little magic!