Salt Springs, FL: Been thinking a lot about everyday magic lately. There is nowhere where magic isn’t. It’s about awareness. It’s about imagining possibilities into life; becoming so hyper-aware just long enough to see a dragonfly smile. It’s watching an ant carry at least a million times his body weight of some unidentifiable treasure back to his tribe. It’s giving a flower to a stranger because they looked like they could use it. It’s anything we put our heart and undivided attention into unconditionally in a state of complete presence. It’s wonder.
Easily said. Easily done. All that’s needed is the desire to come alive, to turn up the brightness, to adjust the focus.
I recently posted a blog about a bear I named Gus. I mentioned that he was seated just inside the forest line looking out at the road, waiting for me. After that encounter I happened to think: How much am I missing? How many other fantastic creatures are just inside the forest line watching me whiz by from point A to point B?
It would be ridiculous to crawl by sweeping both sides of my 30 mile drive inside the forest in hopes of making eye contact with a fox or bobcat or Gus again. But I can drive in silence with vigilance and awareness. I can be completely present and allow the forest critters to reveal themselves to me.
And if I don’t see any? What have I lost? Absolutely nothing. On the contrary, I have gained peace and appreciation for what I did see. Varying shades of green. The clouds emulating mountains ahead of me. The nests as big as my bed precariously perched atop a barren tree. The road mirages that mysteriously disappear before I can drive over them.
I have gained presence. And that is where the magic lives.
Allison's Wanderland 