LMA Was Kinda Right

Drawing out and aggregating the musings, expressions, rants, drawings, textual weavings, and otherwise passionate craftings of and between four not-ficticious, not-so-little women. And their momma.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Magic


I think we all have magic, and there are times that we forget this, what we have to offer. So I'm writing to remind us of its power, over us and the world!


Everyone wants to believe in magic, beauty, and change for the better. We all take some degree of solace in fairy tales and religion, where water turns into wine, enemies can be conquered with courage and unwavering belief, where wishing hard enough or toiling in endless sacrifice brings about proportionate returns. If we didn't, why would we share these things with children? But these ideas are so often kept secret, or in their own boxes, separate from what people consider reality. The real world is cold, hard, and difficult. This is a reality that someone else has imposed upon them, that exists outside Harry Potter's or Willy Wonka's fantasy world: our home. And so the rainstorm ruins our plans or depresses us, darkness is frought with danger, no one can be trusted because there is evil in the world.


But what about our ability to reach in there and apply some magic of our own? The rainstorm can become a chance to yell and shout and dance in puddles; why not lose ourselves in darkness like animals, becoming part of it, rather than something threatened by it; we see that we have the choice to trust and believe in people, consciously prepared for any outcome, rather than automatically suspecting the worst or living in fear. A big part of who I am is constantly manipulating reality to be better than it seems, like the ability to turn a coat into a costume, a meal into an adventure, a simple walk down the street into a dance. I think we all have that, and mom and dad, too. We all have this talent of, or need to, take lemons and make lemonade. I think we can change the world by spreading this belief in magic, in throwing flowers in our midst and creating joy where others would succomb to misery or fear.


I don't understand people who aren't convinced that they can do anything, that they can be the change that they wish to see. And if they act knowing that they are magic, then others see that the same is possible for them. The world i imagine and constantly twist to my advantage can be as real as the bleak, cold, hardness that others see in life. I know I attract people who need a little magic in their lives, as I bet y'all do. I hope you're socking it to 'em!


Lovebeth

4 Comments:

At 1:11 AM, Blogger aimee said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 1:13 AM, Blogger aimee said...

I agree.

And it involves not creating an either or line between the "real" world and the "non-real" world.

Either one can be cold, hard, and difficult. What's needed is the interest in not wanting to settle for this in any space. Magic or no magic, it needs to be part of what's real. And that makes the "real" world something other than "cold, hard, and difficult." Vodka, magic, religion, yoga, nature, relationship, creativity, books... based on your proclivities, there's many things to draw upon to shake up this dichotomy.

 
At 1:39 AM, Blogger aimee said...

Why shake up the dichotomies/binaries?
http://doingfeminism.com/2008/04/28/feminism-101-the-gender-binary/

"In any case, I would argue that our binary fetish is one of the biggest problems we’ve got in this country, and it’s being made worse by this obsession with “both sides” in the media. There are never just two sides to any issue.


"We see more and more verification being supplanted with this false idea of “balance” these days. Balance is even more screwed up than objectivity. Remember Jon Stewart going on Crossfire (a purportedly “balanced” show) to bitch out the hosts for hurting America?

“Balance” means that you go find someone from one side of an issue, and someone from another side, and get both their opinions, and then you’re being “objective.”

Yeah, well, there are lots of problems with that. But the one I’m thinking about right now is that it once again buys into a false binary. The idea that there are only two sides to any issue is a lie, but it sure buys into the way we like to see things in this country.

Democrat/Republican. Black/white. Male/female. Gay/straight. For/against. Enemy/ally.

This leaves out so much nuance that it’s disgusting.

It’s even worse when the binary drawn is completely false: black voters vs. gay voters over Prop 8, for example. Two completely different categories–as if one cannot be black and gay, or that these categories have anything to do with one another, even if you accept that they are categories with clearly defined boundaries, which I don’t..."

 
At 9:10 PM, Blogger X Bethlehem said...

i'm so glad you agree!

 

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