magic:

magic, theyll tell you, is just for kids, and even then, only for those naive enough to believe in it. in order to succeed in the world, they'll tell you, you must be sensible and logical and greet each day with a heavy dose of cynicism and doubt. they'll use things such as time or age or comparison to others to diminish your sense of wonder and extinguish any flame of adventure in your heart.

but theyre all wrong.

life is the longest game of hide and seek with magic, in countless forms, hiding away in the crevices of each day. the best part about this never-ending game is that magic is a terrible hider, like the blonde haired girl named after the river who climbs in the kitchen cabinet as her brother counts to twenty, not even trying to hold back her laughter, directing him straight to her secret place. we do not need to search out magic as we go through our days; instead, magic is revealed to us in the simplest of ways.

 magic: running into a dark-eyed stranger with calloused hands on the corner by your favorite coffeeshop, taking in the warmth of their smile as they apologize, and carrying on with your day with a new sense of compassion for any unfamiliar passing face. 

magic: the big moon illusion-- driving on the freeway at 6:42 pm, watching the moon (as big as a mountain) as it follows you home to safety.

magic: meeting someone for the first time and beginning a conversation about their favorite book or poem or writer and realizing that the inked in words that impacted you so deeply are important to an unimaginable amount of people youve never met.

magic: walking to the mailbox as you wish for more time, more hours, more days, to accomplish everything you need to-- receiving a letter from a friend in your hometown telling you that the sun rises and sets exactly when she's supposed to

magic: buying old black and white pictures from antique stores and imagining the lives of the men and women in the pictures-- their names, their favorite words, what was happening when the picture was taken, if they've ever been in love.

magic: when someone calls you their best friend-- people who share their lives with you, learn with you, grow with you.

magic: driving with the windows down on your favorite road in august and watching the first leaf fall onto your windshield, realizing that change is necessary and good and beautiful.

magic: to love and be loved, knowing that every person who has lived on this earth, the ones you know, the ones youre related to, and the ones you will never even hear of, has felt the same way you do.

they will tell you that magic is a thing reserved for youth. but youll tell them that theres no such thing as being too old, too mature, too grown up, for magic.