Creating magical moments in the mess

People complicate the world, don’t you think?

On the one hand, there are people whose very presence is an inspiration. They coax the best out of every life they touch. It’s as if light radiates from their soul…you can almost see its glow if you look hard enough. These are the folks that stand firm in their belief that humanity is made better by the work crafted by caring hearts and hands, open minds and souls, and an unwavering conviction that good will always conquer evil — creating magical moments in the mess of the world.

On the other hand, people can absolutely suck. Literally. It’s like they suck the life force straight from your heart and soul (you’ve heard of fun-suckers…these are even worse) — leaving nothing in their wake but destruction, hurt, turmoil, pain, grief. Quick to judge, to drown out decency without a second thought for the world, the people around them. All too often, these are the folks with the loudest (most horribly grating) voices. Fortunately, I believe that the former outnumber the latter. I do.

I don’t know about you, but there have been so many days over the course of my life when I’ve felt pretty damn powerless. More often than not, I find that I lose myself in creating, crafting, building beauty wherever possible when I feel as though I’m on some sort of sinking cultural ship.

Lately, I’ve felt the pull to make small, magical moments for the kids. I know they feel that my energy is…off. Kids are sensitive — they can feel and understand the things we keep clasped inside our anxiety-ridden hearts even when we do our best to guard them from the worst bits of the world.

This has been heavy on my mind, lately. It also happens to be birthday season in our house. So, I’ve been using birthday season as a great excuse to create some of my own magical moments in this…mess.

Abbey turned seven. She’s a beautiful force, silly, boisterous, confident, strong. She feels deeply and is quick to laugh — and yell, when necessary. Like many kiddos her age, she loves gaming, movies, and the like. That’s fine, really it is. But I like to balance that with opportunities for creativity outside of a screen.

When gifting to the kids, I try to think of *stuff* that will either inspire them to create, get them outdoors, or provide opportunities to learn something. I’ll be sharing a lot of outdoor-play ideas this season (my personal favorite). One of the pieces I found for Abbey works indoors and outdoors (winner, winner, chocolate-fountain dinner).

I expected Abbey to take this build-a-fort-anywhere kit straight outside. Instead, she took it up to her room where biggest bro helped create a fairy-like castle. It was no surprise the girls begged to sleep in their new fortress.

Once again, the big bros assisted in building a soft nest fit for two hopped-up-on-sugar gals that were ready for a magical sleepover. With drinks and snacks in their fists, they snuggled in as the sun dipped below the horizon. The dark settled in and the ceiling of their castle burst with the light of countless sparkling stars — the glow of a galaxy projected in a blur of color in motion that left them (and me) mesmerized.

They began telling stories of unicorns and fairies as I turned on a quiet mix of acoustic Disney tunes before quietly clicking the door behind me. An hour later, I snuck in and found them asleep, peaceful, dreaming of magic? I hope so.

The world is a mess. It always has been and will continue to be a mess. We make the world a little better by creating magical moments for ourselves, our children, our neighbors — strangers, even. If I have one intention I want to toss into the universe this week, it’s that you make space for magic. Be a magic-maker. Consume moments of beauty and share that beauty with others. The world needs you.