I don’t believe in magic.

I don’t believe in magic. Well, actually I do. Just not the magic powers or abracadabra fluff that most people associate with the word. 

To me, true magic isn’t a spell or a trance, it’s a real and raw emotion that is often never named. You can find it in the moment you take your first deep breath after crying or in the first few seconds of a genuine laugh.

It’s the moment you make your 2-year-old brother smile even though multiple surgeries have landed him in two, full-arm casts. It’s that moment a Disney cast member calls you ‘princess’ and you finally feel normal after months of needles and doctors offices. It’s that moment so joyful that you feel like you’re floating–like you’re flying.

I’ve found that the best way to find that magic is to create it for others. I struggled with my health when I was younger, but I found that even on the darkest days, I could find a glimmer of happiness in the smiles of strangers.

Finding and creating magic became a game for me. I started trying to make everyone I interacted with smile at least once. I did simple, silly things like roll paper towels out for the next person in the bathroom or make funny faces at kids in other cars. What started as a game, became a way of life.

I’m not perfect at creating magic. I, too, occasionally get frustrated at the slow-moving grocery store clerk or the driver in tailing me on the highway. It’s moments like those that my mom would want to remind me, “It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” I’ve always found the light again by trying to find the magic in the world. There’s magic to be found everywhere if you look hard enough.

Have you ever talked to the person next to you on the bus about their goals and aspirations? Complimented a stranger on their hair or coffee tumbler?  Well if you haven’t, I challenge you to do that today. You’d be surprised the magic you can find when you step back and just try to make someone else feel special or at least noticed.

Empathy is not a super-power. It’s not something that you have to be born with or be bitten by a radio-active spider to possess. Empathy can be found by stepping back and trying to see something through another’s eyes. Find an ounce of happiness sometime today. Take a deep breath of fresh air or try to do something to make one person smile.

To say you need only faith, trust, and pixie dust to fly is foolish. Don’t you see? You’ve forgotten the most important part. The magic comes from the happy thought.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see ya real soon.

-Annie