When I was a kid, there were so many things I wanted to do—places I wanted to go, things I wanted to try, opportunities I assumed I would never have. As I wrote about last week, some of these things I get to rediscover as an adult, and it will be a magical journey doing so! It’s also true that I will likely never do many of the things I dreamed of. Sure, there is a level a disappointment that goes with the territory.
Just like I have the opportunity to rediscover so of the things I never tried as a child just for the pure joy of it, I also have the opportunity to reframe the disappointments of childhood. Like I said before, I did not have a bad childhood. I think it is normal to have disappointments because, as children, we just have no clue what is out there.
Sure, I wasn’t going to Disneyworld every Spring Break. And I didn’t go to Europe for a graduation trip. And I didn’t see Wicked or Hamilton on Broadway. I could drown myself with all the things I haven’t done. I could crush every dream I’ve ever had and every dream I currently hold in an instant simply by focusing on what I don’t have right now.
Before you start to zone out, this post is not a shallow manifestation how-to. In fact, I honestly don’t know how to make anything happen.
What I do know is that magic exists in our every day lives. I have done and experienced so MANY different things that are completely unexplainable, unplanned, deeply spiritual. You might not believe half of them if you don’t already know me as a trustworthy person.
Just the other day I was flat out cackling to myself thinking about all the ridiculous things I could say the next time I needed to play “2 Truths and a Lie,” and I honestly had difficulty coming up with a suitable lie that would fit the magnitude of some of my truths.
Some of my truths:
I’ve had a wild peacock eat out of my hand
I swam with wild baby dolphins (and their parents)
I had a separate wild dolphin encounter—the dolphin swam and play with my friends for a good solid 45 minutes
A 6 ft barracuda stalked my husband and I for an awkwardly long time
I traveled through middle of nowhere Tanzania
I met Ukranian Roma who were so isolated they still wore saris and looked like they were fresh off a plane from India
I had a massive herd of deer pass by me silently in the woods
Sure, at this point in my life, I may never become good enough friends with a raven or crow that it starts to bring me gifts. But look at all these absolutely amazing things I’ve gotten to do! Some of the things on the list happened after I turned 40. Not to mention, I still have a chance to befriend an octopus. And, I could, in theory still swim with whales.
There is no way my childhood brain could have even conceptualized some of these things. Not all, but many of the things I wanted as a kid were because other kids wanted them. That’s how kids are. Even the things I wanted that were different were limited in scope because I was a kid with limited knowledge and limited experience.
And, sure, there’s a part of me that still wants to do the week in Disney, riding all the rides and eating all the food. But, if I had to choose between Disney and baby dolphins, I’m going to choose the baby dolphins every time.
Why?
It’s not that experience Disney is all it’s splendor isn’t memorable.
It’s that things like baby dolphins and peacocks and barracudas are complete surprises. They are gifts from nature, the Universe, God, or whoever/whatever speaks to you. You can plan the Disney trip of your dreams and be a perfect week that goes exactly as planned.
The real magic, though? You can’t plan or predict those things. All you can do is be grateful.