Life is Magic: My Top 5 Tricks

I recently listened to Anne Lamott’s Ted Talk, “12 Truths I learned from life and writing”  Her message was clever and funny, thought-provoking and, well, true. Ann so inspired me that I decided to create my own list. Instead of truths, I’m going with magic.

As Harry Potter taught us, not all magic is good. In fact, some of it is so devastating that it takes our breath away. Caution ahead. Here are the top 5 tricks in no particular order.

(Oh, also, I’m sorry this is picture-less, but the only photos I have of late are ones of my dog sleeping. Sorry!)

Flying is Magic

I fly no less than a dozen times a year. Still, there is not a single time I get on a plane that I am not in complete reverence for the thing that’s about to happen. To be clear – I hate to fly. Hate every last bit of it. Doesn’t mean it isn’t magic though.

You pay a lot of money to place yourself into a massive metal tube which has been fitted with massive jet engines. After the jet engines turn on, you roll down a few feet on the runway, and somehow this metal tube starts hurling you into space. Up, up, up you go.

I can hardly jump 6 inches off the ground, but this 6-ton piece of scrap metal can get to 35,000 feet…and it has coke and wi-fi?!?! I’m supposed to enjoy my pretzels and soda while casually being catapulted through the air at 500 mph? Yeah, ok.

Flying is magic. Dark magic.

Learning is Magic

There was a time when you and I didn’t even know how to say hello. Now we know a gazillion words. Some really smart people even know a gazillion words is multiple languages!

Learning is magic! Our minds and bodies are capable of picking up new skills and perspectives, communication, and empathy. Growth is limitless! Never once was there a person who learned so much they could not learn more. We’ve got infinite power to collect new knowledge and ability. Think about that for a minute.

You guys – this is so awesome! We are all ever-expanding and growing! Maybe learn one new thing a day? Perhaps a new word, or fact, or dance move?

I am convinced that we’re all capable, through different methods, of absorbing new information that enhances our lives, and the lives of those around us. Also, don’t ever believe for one solitary second that you are bad at learning. Whoever told you that is a liar.

“Learning never exhausts the mind” – Leonardo da Vinci

Death is sad magic

Now you see me. Now you don’t. Forgive me, but the reason I even dare use the word in this context is because, just like a magic trick, death catches us by surprise and most of the time we’re baffled by the how and why.

When our people pass away, our minds can’t comprehend the finality of the disappearing act. They were just here…living, breathing, being, and now all of a sudden they are not? What do you mean my person is no longer with me to laugh and love?

The most tragic of magic is when the good die young. It’s a different, horrible kind of grief, isn’t it, when a young person dies? When our loved one had so much left to give, when we had so much more to give them…When being a good person, and having a young family has no pull to keep them here.

Dreaming is Magic

Dreams – the moments when sleepy magic takes you flying over the Grand Canyon, or maybe a fun weekend in Vegas with Brittany Spears (ahem). It’s bananas that after your body is so settled into sleep that your subconscious takes over and sends you into crazy dreamscapes. The things we dream about can be exhilarating, heartbreaking, terrifying, and supernatural. Was it something I ate that caused me to dream that I grew a crop of talking carrots? Weird, but also wildly original!  Even our little pups and kittens dream. Do their dreams run the spectrum of happy, sad, scary, and exciting, too?

Only in our wildest dreams do we get to experience flight, speaking with lost loved ones, and having dinner with Brad Pitt.

Just because you didn’t physically go to Nobu with Brad, doesn’t mean that the experience of living it in your dream didn’t happen. That’s what makes dreaming magic.

Feeding people is Magic

This type of saucery, I mean sorcery, is one of my favorites. The need for nourishment is so basic to our existence that when you feed someone, you are adding to their life. You are adding to their strength. You are adding to their potential.

A while back, I stopped by my friend Suzanne’s house after doing some shopping. It was late afternoon and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I was starving. She sat me down at her counter and said, “I don’t have much more than stuff for grilled cheese. Is that ok?” It was the best grilled cheese sandwich I had ever eaten. Not because of any special ingredients, but because it was what she had and she offered it to me as a token of friendship and love. It was simple, nourishing, and perfect.

Whether you spend hours preparing a gourmet meal, or just a few minutes making toast, there is a little bit of magic that happens when you offer a little bit of what you have to someone in need.

There’s a lot of other magic out there. Marriage, travel, babies, space, just to name a few. It’s everywhere you look. But our focus is so often fixed, either on the big picture or the tiny minutia, that we forget to notice how enchanted we really are.

What’s the magic in your world?