Sometimes the world feels like magic.

Sometimes, it doesn't.

Ever notice?

One day everything in the world seems magical and abundant and vibrant and then suddenly something happens and we lose sight of the magic and the whole world becomes that one thing.

It reminds me of a story that Mark Nepo tells about stubbing our toe. When we get that pang of sudden pain, the whole world becomes our stubbed toe… even though the world and the magic and abundance are the same as they were before the pain.

One clear example I can think of is a new relationship. When you first starting dating, everything seems magical and serendipitous. The first everything seems more beautiful - the first look, kiss, all of it. It's sitting in the park with birds singing, the flowers beaming their fresh scents and children laughing. Everything seems made just for you and this moment.

Then you break up. Suddenly all the magic has escaped from the world. The pain of rejection, of loss and loneliness make all the magic disappear. Suddenly, everything feels painful and hard. The things that were magical before are still there, but they don’t seem so special now. The whole world has been reduced to your broken heart.

It happens with everyday things too - especially if you are taking risks and going after big dreams. We’re happy all day and then we make a mistake and our whole world becomes that mistake.

Pain makes our world small and dull.

In pain, we must still remember the magic.

It isn’t lost, we just look through a different lens when we are in pain or emotionally stimulated. Whether that is a rosy-colored lens or a cloudy lens, the mystery and magic of the world is always there – even if our shades are fogging up.

The trick is to see the beauty that surrounds all our pain, not to diminish the pain, but to put it in perspective. Our hearts may be broken, we may feel like everything is lost, and it isn’t. Or maybe it is changed forever, yet, the magic is still there, even if we've changed and our circumstances have changed. We have the capability of still seeing magic if we back up to look at the whole scene and see heartbreak and pain as only one version of what is happening right now. As you hurt there are babies being born into this world, a seed is breaking open to craft new life, flowers are blooming, and even more so, you are being crafted into something more resilient because of this pain.

Some ways I see the Magic:

1. I take a walk in nature. There's a lot of magic in nature for me. If I become still enough, it's always there to be found.
2. I go through the magic in my life. Instead of focusing on the stubbed toe, I try to think of at least 3 things (or as many as I can think of) that have gone right today or this week or this month. This isn't a list of things that I should be grateful for, these are magical things. Magical things are things we can truly connect to with feelings.
3. I have a magic list. Whenever I notice or experience something magical, I keep it in my mental magic file so I have something to pull up later.

Tend to the pain, don't ignore it. Heal. Do your best to remember the magic is still there when we are ready to see it.

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