Do You Believe In Magic?

I used to believe that if you worked hard, and did the right things, not only would you accomplish your goals, you would, every so often, be privy to a little bit of magic--an event that went exactly your way, a surprise check in the mail, an unexpected moment, not just of greatness, but of glorious impossibility. Perhaps not too logical a thought for a well-schooled person like myself, but nonetheless, I believed.

As I make my way through life, it is not so simple to keep believing in magic. Hard work and persistence may still pay off, and I appreciate that. But those transcendent, beyond-cause-and-effect moments are fewer and farther between. Whether it's a heroic baseball play that never quite happened, or theater roles that never materialized, or exciting work calls that never came out of the blue, or no invention of chocolate cake that could be eaten without caloric ramifications, the magic just doesn't always happen. There may be plenty of cause and effect--working toward goals still matters--but that little extra, the effect of nothing in particular, is harder to come by.

So, in a world where the magic appears less often, can we still afford to believe in magic? Can we still hope for those events that surprise, those experiences that transcend?

Answering "no" seems like the wiser, safer choice. When we're not expecting magic, we are less likely to be disappointed when life is just, well, life. But answering "no" also means accepting "just," expecting no more than the expected. And I guess I just can't do that. I would rather keep believing, just a little. I would rather keep hoping that life is just a little more.

Do you believe in magic? I guess it's a decision we continue to make every day...