Where to Find the Magic

psssst....it's right where you are...

A handful of weeks ago, I took part in a small, intimate writer’s retreat with six vibrant and thoughtful women. Every single one of them is beautiful, inside and out. They also all happen to be ridiculously good writers. To say I was over the moon to be included in this gathering of these women is putting it mildly. Part of the weekend was to include each of us reading (out loud) a piece we had written either before or during our time together. I couldn’t think of anything I had already written worthy of reading. So, I dedicated a 90-minute writing block to come up with something. I stared at a lined piece of paper, urging my brain to write something profound with rhythmic and beautiful prose. I needed to write something that would leave a mark in time where these deeply thoughtful people would return to and say, “Wow, remember when she read that piece she wrote?” With 6.3 minutes left, I finally just wrote what continued to swirl in my brain.

Does everything we write need to be profound? And Geezus, I don’t even know how to spell “rhythmic”. And yes, beautiful prose is something to behold and celebrate, but Christy, that isn’t who you are, especially right now. I continued to stare at the blank page, but nothing magical showed up. Then I realized, who is to say what is magical? Who am I to decide what will be magical to these people? Moments of awe and beauty come from moments of authenticity. Sure, they can come from a well-regarded piece of art, or an expensive and polished car, or the most perfect cup of coffee. I do love coffee from lovingly hand roasted beans that were freshly ground with a fined tuned burr grinder, and brewed at 200 degrees fahrenheit. But honestly, the most magical cup of coffee I ever had was the scoop of freeze-dried Folger’s flavor crystals that I drank out of a dirty styrofoam cup while sitting on the tailboard of a fire truck at 6 am after being on the fire line for 24 hours.

Not only does beauty lie in the eye of the beholder, but I believe beauty is found in the moment and the circumstances of that moment.

So whatever you are in a moment - whether you are ragged or beautiful or tired or amped up or polished or deeply vulnerable— I say show up and write or do whatever it is you do while standing in that. Being what you are right then and there is where your gift to the rest of us will be found.