Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 28, 2004

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 28, 2004

Make Time For Magic

Short Stories From 10 Years Ago – November 28, 2004 – I called my friend Nancee today on the off chance that she had a free afternoon. It was a bright, but cool Sunday and going to the movies seemed in order. I had a thought about seeing Alexander The Great, but the reviews apparently haven’t been good, so we decided that an afternoon with Johnny Depp would be as enjoyable as one with Colin Farrell.

I got there a bit early so I could pop in to Indigo to pick up some 2005 calendars to have on hand as small, incidental dinner party gifts. I then met Nancee at the theatre in the ManuLife Centre and we skipped off to see Finding Neverland. I was completely enchanted with the film – loved the actors, the story and the refreshing lack of deceit, violence, murder, mayhem and cruelty. It’s the story of the author of Peter Pan. Not at all like the real J.M. Barrie.

Hollywood’s Johnny Depp is a modern day interpretation, of the man who penned the play that was first performed nearly a century ago, December 27, 1904 at London’s Duke of York Theatre. Whether I agree with Barrie’s premise about eternal youth or not doesn’t really matter. The film made me think about the beauty of magic and the compelling nature of human imagination.

Yesterday I was pondering the value of patience and faith as part of a life well-lived. I think perhaps I should add a belief in magic to my list. Not ghosts, sorcery and witchcraft, but the sheer delight in things magical. We believe in things we can’t see, go places that don’t exist and interact with the wonderful beings that exist only in our imaginations. I see magic in my own life every day. How did Ziggy’s mother find her way to my garden? There to give birth to her kittens, abandon them because she was too young herself to know better and thereby leave me as a surrogate mother to Ziggy.

By what stroke of magic did I find Augie at the Humane Society on the very day he was released from quarantine? How was I fortunate enough to meet the people in this world who have become my dearest friends? How can anyone see a glorious sunset, watch moonlight sparkle on the surface of still water or share the stars on a velvet black night and not believe in magic?

Have you ever thought about the chance encounters that have shaped your life? One day you turned left instead of right and met someone who became a significant part of your world. You didn’t get one job and the next week a better one came along. A holiday disaster turned into a welcome adventure, a favourite hobby became a new career, the lyrics of a song or the words in a poem awakened a long forgotten dream, a kind observation opened your eyes to a different way of thinking or a comment from a total stranger lessened your sadness. Are these things coincidence, serendipity or magic?

I like to think that the quality of magic exists for the taking. Just as faith is unseen and patience isn’t touchable – magic exists everywhere, in everything we do. The very existence of life offers evidence of magic. I know there are all sorts of scientific theorems and formulas that explain away just about everything in life, but don’t you believe it for a second. Those are for the non-believers and the uninitiated in things “magical”.

There really are leprechauns, elves, fairies, unicorns, cows who jump over the moon, pigs that fly, pots of gold at the end of every rainbow, magicians, winged horses, angels on earth, sprinkles of stardust, stairways to heaven, dancing silver moonbeams, inexplicable miracles, moments of pure intuition, the mystery of instinct and moments of sheer inspiration.

If these things don’t add up to magic – then Peter Pan can’t fly, Aragorn didn’t save Middle Earth and Harry Potter isn’t a magician. I’m planning to make more room in my life for magic next year. Maybe I’ll even start tomorrow. In these troubled times, the world would be thankful if more of us found the time to believe in, search for and value the magic that is present in each and every day.