Van Damme V. Stallone

I believe in magic.  Ok, not the stupid card trick, rabbit out of the hat, let´s cut the girl in half magic (though that kind of stuff is kind of fun if done with witty and hilarious commentary) but like the magic that comes from ideas, literature (can I say A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings by Gabriel Garcia Marquez... http://salvoblue.homestead.com/wings.html) and the kind that makes life more fun to think about.  Like reading astrological profiles or believing in fate or kismet (though please don´t name a child Kismet or some such similar ridiculousness).  Not that I believe in it because magic or miracles necessarily exist in reality, but just because believing in magic or fate or whatever you want to call it (I´m sure another language that I don´t know must have coined the perfect term for this but being that I am constantly confronted by how much I don´t know, I really can´t come up with a specific term so I´ll just use few small words instead) make life more interesting and imaginative.  Coincidence v. serendipity...who will win?  This fight might be more exciting than Van Damme v. Stallone from when they were super awesome and kickass back in the day (my money is on the former though part of me hopes for a tie and a hug of brotherhood at the end).  But I, as usual, digress. 

Believing that certain things happen because of fate or magic or what you will, make it fun to read astrological profiles and see signs in the universe and give your head over wholeheartedly to books like The Alchemist while still keeping your feet on somewhat solid ground.  It also allows your imagination to grow and your horizons to get bigger because with magic available, almost anything (anything?) is possible.  You´ll only limitations are your own mental constrictions.

I love stories.  I hate lying.  But I love stories.  Paradox.  My life is also a continual confrontation of paradox.  But I think fate is a story we tell ourselves.  It´s a story we can believe in.  We give ourselves magic because life is...sometimes tedious.  But the more imaginative we are and the more stories we dress our lives up in, the more magical it can become.  But, always, there is the necessity to watch where our feet are.  Are they still on the ground?  You need a surface to have a comparison with the sky. 

I like to believe in magic and fate and see signs because it gives my life character (as if it needed more of that), but also because it allows me to keep certain things, ideas, and people around.  I have a landlord here and she reminds me of my grandmother, Nan, who passed away just before Christmas last year.  My grandfather, Poppop, died a little after her.  My landlord is so sweet and it gives me comfort to think that I have her to take care of me in some way, like how I used to have Nan.  It´s good to feel that somehow Nan is protecting me.  Coming back home tonight, walking in through the second door, I smelt a scent that reminded me of Nan and Poppop´s home from when I was a kid and they would let me stay up late in front of the tv, munching a bag of potato chips, and falling asleep.  I like to believe that they are both with me, especially Nan, watching and helping and though I know this is magic, it´s good to feel.  We can carry our magical ideas around with us and we can let them grow; we can see signs or things that don´t really exist in places or scents or moments.  I don´t think it really hurts to have some magic in your life.  Sometimes it broadens things and makes you think in different ways.