Do You Believe in Magic?
Do you believe in magic?
I do—perhaps too much. A few days ago in my evening meditation I was actively trying to manifest money for further hypnosis training, and while I was at it, I threw in a special request to Spirit for a little extra grad-school cushioning. The next day when I got home from work I checked the mail—a typically drab daily routine where my anticipation of a letter from literally anyone is met with the darkness of an empty mailbox or some generic mailers from Petco. Imagine my surprise, when I reached into the darkness and pulled out, quite literally a golden ticket, well, envelope.
I tore into it, reading the contest rules. If my poker chip matched the number on the sheet, then I won $5,000—well fine print said, either $250 or an Ipad mini, but either way, I wasn’t complaining. AND get this. My poker chip matched the number. A miracle! I jumped up and down and called the hotline with my confirmation code. A nice lady on the other end scheduled my prize-winning pick up date for the following day at the car dealership. Oh yeah, did I mention it was a car dealership mailer?
Now most of my readers, along with every one of my family members and close friends, are rolling their eyes. How could she buy that…again? Well, Spirit works in mysterious ways, and why not through a car dealership mailer? So the next day, I swung the doors open at the Kia dealership, and with a smile bigger than a rainbow, complete with leftover freckles from my costume as Gretel earlier in the day, I proudly announced to the entire showroom, “I’m a winner!!!” I frantically waived my mailer in the air and a grouchy lady at the front desk pointed me over to a salesman.
He led me to a table in the back and had me take a seat. “Name and address?” he asked, as he stared down at his computer. “My name is Cait Klein and I am just so excited that I am a winner, and I am in social work school and I am trying to do more training in hypnosis, so basically I am chronically poor, and also I feel like maybe I’ll donate some of my earnings to charity, oh and these freckles on my face are from the fairy tale ball at the school I intern at so I’m not crazy, I just didn’t have time to wash this part of my costume off…..this went on for five minutes non-stop.” I could hear myself rambling, but I couldn’t stop that verbal vomit…not right before I would win my big prize.
Finally he looked up from his computer.
“Do you need anything else from me? Whatcha been looking up on that thing?” I ask.
“No, mam, I just was checking Facebook.”
“Oh.”
“Ready to go check if you’re a winner?”
“YES!!!”
We head over to a poster in a back corner of the store. Apparently the fine print had actually said if your poker chip matches the number on the store poster. And surprise, surprise, mine didn’t. But it did match for the consolation prize—a whopping two dollars!
I collected my two dollars from the cashier, and in an effort to save face on my optimism, did a dance that Buckwheat from The Little Rascalswould have been proud of, instead of “I have two pickles, I have two pickles, I have two pickles, hey hey hey hey,” I substituted dollars and sang my way out of the store.
I got into the car with a big sigh. In reality the day turned out well. The two dollars covered my gas to drive to the dealership. I had a solid car dance session while driving home. And a friend bought my dinner. So in the end I still won something, although I think it was a pity dinner for my gullibility.
The truth is, I wouldn’t change a thing. I choose to believe in magic—to believe in miracles and wild things. To chase naïve dreams and to trust in what I can’t see. I’d rather live in the undomesticated territory of make-believe and magic. I’d rather trust in the Mystery. Faith sometimes guides you in weird ways, but there is always some treasure at the end of the rainbow, even if it wasn’t the pot of gold you were expecting.
I choose to walk barefoot in the grass to root and to ground, before falling asleep and waking up back in the ethers of tomorrow. I hope this Halloween you let the magic of fairies and goblins, of angels and demons, of princesses and dragons, carry over into your everyday life. I hope you find the magic in life, and dive into an adventure with a healthy dose of unwavering faith, enjoying every moment of the bumpy ride.
LISTEN TO THE MUSTNTS
Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me—
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.
Shel Silverstein
