The Magic I Came For

There is an ideal that drew me to this life. Small living, freedom, iconic style, and experiences. Toilet clogs are not what I came for. But I beat that problem. I was fierce. I was bad-ass. I got it done and learned a new skill, bought a new tool, got great advice from service experts, and figured out how to make it work. That problem is solved and behind me for now. And yes, I realize there are a myriad of juvenile puns in those sentences, lol.

I came on this journey for magic. Magic is the unexpected experience that moves you to your core. I’m looking for it. Sometimes you create your own by being open to whatever is present in the moment. Sometimes it comes directly to you. Here is my experience of both types of magic over the last few days.

Iowa, as a state, gets maligned. If you’ve ever seen the Southpark episode about tall buildings in Iowa you know what I mean. It’s reputation is flat and boring. Driving on some back roads, I was taken by the beauty of the gentle rolling hills, the cornfields stretching out, the farmhouses dotting the landscape and of course the barns. I’m declaring Iowa to be pastoral. Maybe I liked it because it reminds me of rural Illinois that I saw as a child. Maybe I just like the green expanse. Iowa has beauty. I declare it. And so it is. I was touched, moved and inspired by the views. That’s a form of magical experience that I let myself be open to having.

I didn’t know it at the time, but the moon was but a preview of what was to come.

Staying in a state park, away from the city gets you two things – quiet and a night sky. I was in Rock Creek State Park and couldn’t sleep. I was filled with a feeling of loneliness. Not fear or dread – but an acquiescence to loneliness.  At 3am I stepped outside, sat down, and looked up. I saw more stars than I have seen in a very, very long time. I can’t identify constellations anymore. But I know they were all there. I saw a shooting star! I saw a plane or UFO very, very high up moving quickly across the night sky. And then I realized what I thought were wispy thin clouds were not clouds at all – they were vestiges of the Milky Way. I started to cry because it was so beautiful. I realized I am not alone at all. I’m part of an impossibly fantastic cosmic universe and that everything we know is made up of that stardust. That is the experience of unexpected magic for which I have come on this journey.