The Magic

I remember, believe it or not, many things from back when I was still an infant in the crib. I don’t know why my long term memory is so well developed or why many say they can’t remember much before their 12th year, just that everyone is different. I do know that I have always been very aware of what is going on around me and my very first real clear memory of the crib is of my older brother, David, playing peak-a-boo with me through the bars. I don’t think I was even able to sit up yet because I never did. I am certain my mental processes were undeveloped, as of course they should have been at that age, because I remember being surprised by the fact that he could magically disappear then reappear so quickly. That magic and the possibilities behind it inspired and fascinated me and continued a process of development that all infants benefit from. I use the word ‘magic’ here not as in that which is performed by magicians, witches or sorcerers but in the sense of that which enchants or excites the mind. Where David likely thought it just amusing and entertaining to make me laugh at him, I was actually learning that there was more to life than just lying around on my back staring at a mobile or sucking on my ‘Binky‘ (a brand of pacifier). I also remember when I discovered that there was a bar missing from the side of my crib closest to the wall, and as soon as I was mobile enough I learned that if I stuck my feet through the bars and pushed, I could push my bed away from the wall just enough to climb through the bars and escape that confining world that was the ‘Baby Bed’. I was off in search of new magic and mysterious adventures and was excited with anticipation of what I might find in the bigger world which was the ‘Bed Room‘. My adventures continued as I grew and traveled from room to room, to yard, to new houses, to new rooms and to an open world called planet Earth. Life is so fascinating to small minds, why is it that as we age life no longer hold such fascination to us? Where does all that early magic really go? Is it the magic that leaves us or do we forget to see it? Does that fairy tale innocence have to be lost as we grow up? I didn’t want to grow up because most ‘grown-ups’ no longer see the magic or the magical creatures that live in our worlds. I didn’t want to live in a world that could no longer fascinate or inspire me to grow and develop. I didn’t want the monsters of my imagination to gain control. I wanted to hang on to my innocence as long as I could, but the evils of the world, circumstance and time have ways of gaining the upper hand. Yes, some of my childish fascination with life was lost and the true magic of the world is sometimes harder to find, but for me much of it still remains and I will hang on feverishly to every small grain of child like innocence that I am able to. There is still ‘Magic’ in my world and there are still new adventures to be had, new places to discover, things to be learned and new people to meet. I know far too many people who have lost their ability to see the magic and their mental development is stagnating from disuse. So many people walk around in a blind haze monotonously performing mundane task without ever seeing that fairy in the corner or that pot of gold gleaming at the end of every rainbow.