Remember the look on a child's face when the candles are lit for their first birthday? The wonder, the excitement, (and yes, the quick grab to see little fingers don't touch it). When you light a candle or see a flame now, does it spark the same amazement?
As we grow, we learn how the world around us works, how the adults around us see it as ordinary. For some reason, we are taught the wonder is removed with the understanding of what it is and how it functions. We're told magic isn't real because the definition of magic is that it's some supernatural or mysterious force. But what if isn't?
If you live in an area like I do where the snow falls, you may groan and dread digging it off the sidewalk and the work it takes to brush it all off the car. (I understand that too well.) But what about the other part of you that watches the snowflakes drift lazily through the air or blow like tiny ice missiles in the howling winter wind?
Why does a candle flame hold so little wonder for us as adults? Obviously there's something about it that causes us to buy candles and light them for romantic nights or relaxing, pampering evenings. The wonder does still exist, but we too often don't even look at it.
So why aren't candle flames and falling snowflakes magic? Why do we run the tap without a second thought to the element that washes away filth from our hands, hydrates our bodies, yet, in excess, can drown us? Yes, we understand what it is, we know how it works, but why isn't it still amazing and... magical?
What if it's all still magic despite our understanding of it? What if we took a long moment and acknowledged how stunning sunsets and sunrises are, beyond simply thinking it's beautiful, how wonderful it is that water with all it's amazing qualities runs through our taps, and how crazy it is that we strike a match or push a button and flame ignites?
Maybe we need to stop thinking magic is some wild fantasy thing of powers and acknowledge that it's all around us every day. Maybe that could help push the mundane daily tasks into the background of our sometimes daunting lives. Maybe realizing the magic all around us can bring a weightless wonder back to our lives, making everything feel less heavy and more amazing.
Wouldn't that be a magical?