What is Magic?
Five years ago I would have laughed politely at someone talking about magic in the real world. Raised on Harry Potter and The Belgariad, my understanding of magic was strictly limited to big magic that could preserve part of your soul in an object or summon and control a demon. But then I discovered modern-day witches and my understanding of magic expanded. Suddenly, magic was everywhere.
The fact that taking deep, slow breaths can positively affect the parasympathetic nervous system is magic. We’ve been calling on the deities of wind for millennia. Just because we now know (mostly) what’s going on physiologically when we breathe deeply doesn’t change the fact that our interaction with the Earthly phenomenon of wind is magical. Science is inextricably linked with magic; it gives us the language and understanding to better appreciate the magic around us.
Some might call this appreciation of the mundane mindfulness instead of magic. A rose by any other name, as they say. How one gets to the state of being to receive magic is unique to each person. For me, it’s all in my morning routine, or ritual depending on what we’re calling the rose. I wake up and make my bed, then roll out my yoga mat and brush my teeth while doing warm-up stretches. I do yoga for about half an hour before getting dressed. Downstairs I pour a cup of water and boil more for tea then light the candles on my altar. Only then will I finally break my silence and listen to music or a podcast because now I have prepped my mind and body to be open to the magic.
I decided to start this blog to document my experience of magic. My hope is that it will help others who are stuck in jobs they hate, toxic relationships they can’t seem to find their way out of, financial situations that occupy too much of their mental real estate, and other temporary states of being that feel all-consuming and eternal. Experiencing everyday magic has kept me out of the dark hole of despair that opens up every time I feel trapped in my current situation. Perhaps you will find some solace in the magic, too.
