Magic

Magic is something I seek wherever I go. I don’t mean some mystical sense of being able to magic things into existence, even though that, too, is a wonderful thing to seek. And it is true – people do magic things into existence – they make things, they write, they change the world through empathy and connecting to others. Something out of nothing.

Magic is a sunrise – waking up and feeling the warmth of winter sun. It is Chocolat waking me up by tapping my nose or forehead. Or doing her infamous flying, bouncing leap onto my sleeping form. Venturing into London and realising everyone is cocooned in their own worlds, and for a fleeting moment, a tube journey, we enter each other’s lives.

‘And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’ – Roald Dahl.

Having a whole world in our heads – our own voices and neurons firing, making connections and learning new things. The dazzling magic of finally understanding something, of making a new discovery. Of learning something new. Reading a book – travelling without moving, from one person’s head to another’s – taking their journey with them. And realising that it is impossible to fully know a person – that we will never see exactly what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes but that we can only hint and guess and imagine.

That might seem lonely. Yet it isn’t. Sometimes the magic is that we can get to know someone so well that we come to know what they are thinking or feeling through looking in their eyes or reading their body language. To be able to communicate with someone without the barriers or self-consciousness that comes when we are first getting to know them. Or even when you finally feel comfortable enough to talk to someone without the fear you will be judged.

The year ends soon and a new one starts. Even though it is simply nothing more than one day turning into another day, it is also full of possibility and renewal. For me, this is a time of reflection and reassessment. Casting my thoughts back over the year, I can see the magic I seek, and how that has changed me and those around me. It is time for me to take action and develop my wings whilst I fall:

‘We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.’ – Kurt Vonnegut.

What will this cliff be? It will be life and writing and exploration. It will be a good year – it will have its challenges as always but it will also have magic of its own. And as a lifelong seeker, I will try to find the possibility in everything.