this is for anyone having a hard time believing in magic, who also knows it is important to do so.

this world is in a conflux of dire situations. we make a lot of movies and art these days to normalize the scale of crisis we are expecting. i am no longer convinced we can strategize our way out of it, or that any tangible solutions i’ve heard will be effective in a timeline that is relevant to my heart. but when i experience magic, even briefly, it makes the catastrophe worthwhile, it gives me faith we should continue the experiment of humanity.

so first, notice if you feel magical. if you do, just keep doing you. show others.

if you don’t feel magical, open up. this may mean relinquishing some armor, dropping your shoulders, forgetting the gates of your heart. only you know where or if you are closed, i cannot tell you.

next, spend a certain amount of time (an amount that feels restorative and exciting without feeling overwhelming) around people who believe in magic. this immersion will regulate your system, create a normal that shimmers, is emotionally extravagant, giggles.

if you aren’t sure where to start, children seem to have magic before any other belief systems show up, but you have to have something to exchange. curiosity is acceptable. imagination, however, is the most precious thing to put in your palm and offer up. these are beings of the future, seed them, let them remind you.

also, go outside. feel the state of the elements in the moment.
feel the earth under your feet. is she naked? find the place nearest you where she wears nothing and notice her textures.
feel the water around you. is it raining, piled in snow, floating above you in clouds, running past you in creeks, coming and going from you in waves, gathering along your collarbone?
feel the fire on you. is it direct from the sun, or reflected by the loyal moon? or time traveling from stars? can you light it with your thumb, sit before it with your knees tucked close – is it frightful or comforting?
feel the air moving into your body. is it abundant and easy? sweet, calming? cold?

what else can you feel?

it is all beyond your control. awe is the appropriate response to muster. feel that you are in a magical world that doesn’t even need your belief to work.

from that place of wonder, find yourself. start small. really really really small. think about the way you came to be here. at the cellular level.

the core practice, in my limited but dazzling experience, is to notice anything that makes you feel like wow. it can be parts of the universe, the moon, a family member, a lover, a beloved, a commitment, a skyline, a fact, a feeling, a fiction, a seemingly insignificant part of the world under a microscope (as i was writing this my brother showed me images of sea water, sand and the wing of a dragonfly under a microscope and it was all wow), a connection, a release, a forgiving, a lesson. just, wow. focus on that feeling, study those things and find more of them.

soon you will find that you are growing your capacity to believe in magic.

remember: you don’t have to cultivate being magical, that is your default state, i know this from loving children. it is the default of every child i have ever ever met, and every human starts off in someone else’s hands just being a miracle.

unlearn your disbelief, hold your cynicism loosely, and listen for the zing up your spine that let’s you know you are fully alive, in a magical world, in the only moment that exists.