Mika’s Wild Kingdom

“Thanks for MY new lawn!”

Magic is just a matter of perspective.

Over the years, this memory has surfaced from time-to-time and each time I am, in an instant, back with the same strong feelings of disappointment I had that day… 

 

I am five years old.  I walk into the kitchen to find my mom, “Mom?  If I told you I was magic, would you believe me?”   With a little chuckle, she replies, “Magic?  No.  I wouldn’t believe you were magic,” then turns and continues what she was doing. I am heartbroken and quietly walk into the other room.

 

As an adult, I understand my mom probably just thought she was ensuring I didn’t try to make my baby brother disappear.  However, I also always sensed there was something else to it for me.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but wanted to understand why this brief exchange affected me so.

 

I try to do what I call “free writing” on a regular basis.  It’s basically just being in the “flow” and allowing whatever comes out to come out without analyzing it or even really tuning into it until you’ve finished.  It can be very revealing and as such, a good form of self-therapy.  It is also a way to open up and allow ideas to flow through you more freely.   A number of years ago, I wrote: 

 

Like life, the illusion in a magic show is complete and thus, not separate from reality.  It is only when we choose to change our viewing position and we understand how the “trick” is accomplished that it becomes less “magical.” 

–Magic is just a matter of perspective.

 

It is not suggesting that we look at life with less wonder.  It is saying that magic is within our grasp.  What may appear as impossible, is possible.  We define something as magical because we don’t (yet) have an explanation for it.  It is only when we find an explanation as to how it is accomplished that it moves from the impossible realm to the possible (reality) for us.  And if that is the case, then why would we close ourselves off from believing that anything is possible?   

 

Many aspects of our everyday lives contain what were once only dreams or fantasy; left in those realms for many years. Take the airplane, for one grand example.  For centuries, the idea of flight for a human being seemed impossible.  Early humans dreamed of being able to fly like a bird, but how far beyond their grasp must that have seemed?  At some point, some began to have faith that flight would eventually be achieved, but even then, did they imagine it would be as it is today?  What a leap to think that we would not only be able to fly, but we would be able to lift hundreds of human beings off the ground in tons of steel and travel thousands of miles around the world.

 

“Magic is just a matter of perspective” also means that with just a little shift in perspective (stepping outside of our conditioned way of thinking and often chaotic mode of living), we get to experience the magic and inspiration all around us.  Meditating on a flower or a tree…the whole of nature…offers many avenues to the “magical” and understanding ourselves and the universe.  This leads us full circle to the first meaning pointed to in that once we are moving through life open and aware;  we don’t need “proof” that something is real, we operate from an inexplicable sense of knowing.

 

The “just” in the phrase points to the fact that it is a simple shift.  We just need to be open. It doesn’t take much to come at life from a different angle and have a completely different experience.   

 

Imagine what we could accomplish if we all made a conscious effort to lift our preconceived notions about what is and is not possible; if we taught our children less conformity and celebrated individuality more.  The great spiritual leaders and inventors throughout the ages had this ability.  They were able to think “outside the box” in order to allow what seemed impossible to become reality for all of us.  Doing so, was often at the expense of being ridiculed or even ostracized for daring to think outside of society’s accepted norms at the time.  How fortunate for us that they were motivated to look beyond the confining ideas and ideals of their time and the constraints of conformity others tried to impose.

 

In everyday life, we have the opportunity over and over again to reinvent ourselves and our current reality.  We can take any interaction we have with another person; any “problem” we perceive we have—any mundane, everyday occurrence and create something completely different.  We have this ability to change, because what we are currently experiencing is simply dictated by our chosen (or unconsciously adopted) viewpoint.  A shift in perspective is magical, because it opens up worlds we didn’t previously imagine existed.

 

I’ve come to realize that little 5 year old girl in the kitchen that day was talking about possibilities…in her terms “magic.”  She was still tuned-in and open to the magic and endless possibilities in the world and it didn’t feel right to her to close that door.  It takes practice, to be sure, but I try and remind myself every day to think of her…and keep the door open.

Be happy for this moment…

 Be happy for this moment.  This moment is your life.