Magic in the cracks ….

As you may already know, I am a huge believer that magic is everywhere.

If you just slow down enough to look. Tiny glimpses of majestic moments happening right under our noses…in the cracks between the everyday.

I have had three (so often in threes don’t you find?) extra magical moments recently.

The first involves a rather beautiful spider who had laid her cluster of eggs in a doorway which was about to get cleaned. I couldn’t bear the idea that this lovely creature and her babies would be washed into the drain so I very carefully coaxed mumma onto a stick and placed her on the garden wall, then I went back for the egg sack and took it to where I’d left her.

She had gone.

I wasn’t surprised, I figured the upheaval was obviously too stressful and she would have abandoned her brood. So I carefully placed the eggs, wrapped in their cobweb cocoon, on a little twig and left for a cuppa.

When I next passed I glanced at the little branch and there they were, still attached to the stick and swinging gently in the breeze as if rocking a crib to a lullaby.

But sadly no spider.

A few hours later I wandered past once more and to my surprise mumma spider had returned and was busily and carefully collecting her eggs to carry them to a safer home. I wondered if she had been watching from a distance, waiting to make sure all was safe before she returned?

My heart beamed.

My second glimmer arrived in the form of an orange tip butterfly (my favourite) who had been lazily flitting around our flower bed for most of the afternoon. The sun was low in the sky and the shadow cast from our home was creating a cool shade in our back garden.

The little butterfly landed on a dandelion clock, folded her wings so that her beautiful orange spots were hidden and her white and green underwings made her quite inconspicuous against the grass.

And she sat there.

And she sat there.

And she sat there.

Barely moving.

I don’t know much about the habits of butterflies but I thought it was unusual.

I knelt in the grass and said hey and she moved a leg but stayed put.

Al arrived and we decided to go for a walk in the woods.

We wandered lazily through evening sun dappled pathways, said hello to the local dogs out for their evening runs and then, sticks, feathers and flowers in hand we returned home.

And she was still there.

Clutching the top of the fluffy dandelion seeds but unmoved.

The air was cold where she was and I started to think she wouldn’t survive the night left out in the middle of the grass.

So I gently picked the dandelion. She didn’t move.

Then, as planning is clearly not my strong point… I stood with dandelion in hand wondering where to take her where she could warm up and be safe.

A shed? Too many cobwebs, no thank you.

Then I realised that the front of the house was still in warm evening sunlight so I took her out there and in moments, with the sun on her wings she came to life. A little wobbly at first she disappeared under the car so I offered her a stick which she gladly grasped and took her back into the sun.

She flexed her wings, grinned at me (I maaaay have imagined that bit) and flew off into the evening sky.

Now this may be coincidence but every day since at about 4.30 pm a little orange tip flies past my workshop door gives me a thumbs up and disappears over the hedge.

I didn’t know butterflies have thumbs.

The next little moment was truly magical.

The kind of moment you just know was sent especially for you.

I was in a town. It was busy.

Not my favourite place to be …

We are fortunate enough to live near some beautiful places and I am always excited to leave the countryside behind for a moment and see something new.

The hustle and bustle, the people watching and the architecture.

But after a little while, the noise, the heat, the bustle that begins to bustle me gets a bit much and I start to enjoy it a little less.

My inner voice becomes a little cranky and i can feel a bit overwhelmed.

I was at this point in my day and I was trapped in a busy shop, trying to leave and feeling a little flustered when a little old man walked up behind me.

I immediately stepped out of the way and did the usual English response of ‘sorry’.

This lovely man stopped. He turned and looked directly at me and in what I guess to be a soft German or Austrian accent said ‘that’s ok, you’re allowed to be here’, then he smiled a warm smile which shone through his kind eyes and he disappeared.

I mean, I don’t suppose he actually disappeared as such, although that would make my story much better, but he wandered off leaving me feeling utterly seen.

Seen in a way that in a large town full of busy shoppers I just don’t experience … ever. I’m not sure anyone really sees anyone anymore to be completely honest.

But this lovely old man just swept me with a complete sense of calm, like he was sent to me in that moment to remind me that I exist and I am part of this world.

The fact that he had a German accent doesn’t really have any bearing … except that my family are Austrian / German so maybe his voice was simply familar and therefore even more impactful? Or maybe it was something else even more magical…?

I have taken his words and I hold them in my mind. Whether he was a little Germanic spirit guide, a German Yoda if you will? Or just a kindly old man, his words had a power.

I AM allowed to be here.

And so are you.

Magic is everywhere and you can choose to see it, accept it and take it that it is meant just for you.

For me, finding the magic that seeps through the cracks in an uncertain world is so important.

Stopping for a second to observe, love and be grateful is just the best stress reliever.

See the small things.

Notice.

And pay it forward.

Kindness is the opposite of stress.

A scientifically proven fact. ( see my previous blog ‘kindness is the opposite of stress)

I once read a really lovely book called ‘Join me’ by Danny Wallace. In which Danny accidentally created a huge following of people as a sort of experiment to see if people would ‘follow’ him without knowing why they’re doing it. They did and he realised he experiment had gone so far it was a little out of control and now thousands of people were anxiously waiting to find out what they had followed and why! So, in an act of desperation he set them all a task to perform one random act of kindness per week.

He then followed this book with ‘Random acts of kindness’ documenting many of the wonderful things people did and the way they touched the community around them.

I remember reading these books many years ago and they made such an impact on me.

How doing the tiniest thing for someone… human, animal or bug makes such a difference to the energy of the world.

The surprise in people’s reactions when you speak kindly to them or hold open a door says so much about the inward relationship to the world that exists in our society at the moment.

Just last week, Al was on the phone to a call centre attempting to organise house insurance. At the end of the call the lady on the phone was reading her notes in an automated way to wrap up the conversation when Al wished her a lovely weekend and thanked her for being so helpful. She was audibly taken aback. She stammered a little, smiled (you can tell right?) and thanked him back with such warmth it made me wonder if, as a call centre operator, she receives less kindness in her work than most?

A tiny gesture, but in that moment Al made a little difference to her day.

Danny called his followers his ‘Karma Army’. I love that.

Maybe, if we all recognised how impactful such small acts can be we can begin to create tiny pockets of positivity and love amid an ever increasingly insular world. Create and be a karma army and pay it forward.

Look up.

Be kind.

Slow down.

Breathe.

See the magic in the cracks and make your own.