A strange thing happens when we "drop the effort to patch up our torn and tattered lives" and settle into the life we actually live; we then have a chance to perform an amazing magic act as we begin finding beauty in our everyday life.

We often start out with goal in mind and then find our desires change, or we lose our way, or life simply redirects us. It is easy to judge ourselves negatively when we "fail" to achieve a goal or land somewhere other than intended. What if the place where we land, even though it may not be where we wished to be, was actually waiting for our arrival and bows to receive us? 

Spirit moves through us in magical ways and we never know when it will grant us an audience with the divine. Iconic images of enlightened ones offer an opportunity, but no guarantee. I have sat before spiritual images and never experienced the flash of enlightenment. Now, I look to writing and inner work to lift something up from the depths that might water the seeds of new life.

Perhaps you have had one of those moments, somewhere between wake and sleep, when you enter a magic realm, and it feels as if a long time has passed, but you are surprised to find it was only a few moments of clock time. This playful poem is about that magic realm, a land of fantastic beings and magic moves, a fantasy world where I am free to fly as a bird or swim like a fish! What world waits for you when you enter that space between waking and sleeping?

Death has been a long-time companion to me in writing , starting in 1977 as the key figure in an unpublished fiction trilogy,  "A Game With Death."  Nothing puts things in perspective more than death. Here's an interesting exercise: Imagine Death comes to you, hands you a letter, and you are surprised to find it is your own last words.  What do you imagine you might read?

Numerous benefits derive from being in a state of gratitude. When we truly consider how lucky we are simply to be alive, when we receive the gifts of life with thanks giving, when we transform our suffering into lessons for living and love of life, we enter a magic kingdom and live a blessed life.  Gratitude may be the best antidote to the cynicism of the modern world.

As a teenager, before departing on my first airplane trip alone, I bought a copy of a Science Fiction magazine that included a short story about a man that stopped time by experiencing the whole of his life, from birth to death, all-at-once. The idea fascinated me and has been with me since. Here is my poetic translation of this idea: How wide is your embrace for your own life?

On the surface, my life is an odd mix of glamorous travel and mundane moments. But the real adventure, for me, is inside: living in a world teetering on the edge of imagination, filled with unfounded dangers and fantastic delights, found even in the simplest acts. I imagine myself to be an everyday adventurer finding treasures in the mundane moments of life.   Are you a treasure hunter? What treasure do you seek in life?